Anonymous Letters
by totalizzyness
Summary: Harry recieves a letter he wasn't meant to, from Draco, confessing a lot. Drarry, non canon. More info inside.
1. That Smell

**_Set in fifth year - not canon. For this not much will be happening will the Death Eaters and the Order, etc.  
>Umbridge won't be "Dolores" as we know her, she'll just be another teacher.<br>I want to focus on Draco and Harry instead of dipping in and out of what really happens._**

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><p>Harry glanced up from his Transfiguration work to Draco Malfoy. He was looking particularly more "angtsy" than usual. He had a haunted look about him, his eyes bulged slightly and had dark circles around them. His skin looked more grey than white and he was constantly staring off into the distance. Harry felt he could relate. He hadn't had a good nights sleep in what felt like forever, and if not for Hermione he'd look as bad, if not worse than Malfoy. He sat thinking deeply to himself about how he felt somewhat sorry for Malfoy, for reasons unknown. He was so deep in thought he didn't hear McGonagall shout his name. Only Ron elbowing him sharply brought him back to Earth. Harry looked up, a little dazed.<p>

"Pay attention to your work Potter. As fascinating as Mr Malfoy may be, he's not going to get you through your O.W.L.s."

Harry blushed and looked down at the desk and rolled his quill between his fingers. Ron leant over.

"What were you staring at Malfoy for?"

"I wasn't, I was just... Gorming out."

"Oh... Right."

When he felt it was safe to do so, Harry glanced back over to Malfoy. Surprisingly, Malfoy was looking back at him, discretely, out of the corner of his eye, but obvious enough for Harry to notice. They both stared for a couple of moments before looking down at their desks.

Draco sighed and repeatedly dipped his quill in the ink. He'd recently come to accept he was gay, but hated the fact he became attracted to every boy he saw. Well, nearly, but then again, Crabbe and Goyle were more like trolls than boys. And the Weasleys... But no one likes a ginger. What he felt worse about was that his current eye-candy was the boy with whom he had an extensive hatred for. Saint Potter, how dare he be so infuriating and good looking, who did he think he was? He ripped a page from his notebook and began scribbling a letter to Aleksander - one of the Bulgarians he'd befriended last year, and also the only person he'd come out to. In return, Aleks had come out to him and they shared experiences and tips. Draco gave good tips on how to stay strong, but could never follow his own advice. He quickly wrote down what he was feeling, especially about Potter, and folded it up. He intended on going up to the owlry during his free period.

That evening, Harry had managed to steal a few moments to himself in the boy's dorm. He sat musing over his Potions book, tapping his wand on the top of it, not really taking in the words. He was busy thinking about the day, more specifically, his confusion about who he was. He tried to pin it on hormones and stress, but the more he tried to deny it, the more he couldn't. He was gay. He threw his book to the end of the bed and got up, pacing around the room. Just two months ago he loathed Draco Malfoy, with a passion. There was probably only one person in Hogwarts who he hated more than Malfoy, and that was Snape. Now suddenly, he found himself staring at him in classes, over dinner, and looking out for him on Hogsmeade trips. And it wasn't only Draco, there were some other boys too he'd found himself staring at.

"Sod my life. I have to be the saviour of this damn world, **AND** gay!"

A sudden tapping from nowhere made him spin round messily, nearly tripping over his own feet. He looked around for the source of the tapping. It came again, from the window. Harry went over and opened it. A grey, ruffled owl flew into the room and perched on a shelf. It had a letter in its beak. Harry took it and looked at the name on the envelope. It was addressed to an Aleksander Dobrev. He turned back to the owl, but it was gone.

"Stupid owl," he muttered, sitting on his bed, looking at the envelope. He contemplated opening it, or going up to the owlry to give it a more reliable owl. The handwriting on the front of the envelope was very elegant; the paper also had a similar smell. It smelt sort of musky - it was deffinitely a person smell - and there were hints of expensive aftershave. He knew the smell, but couldn't place it. He sighed and lay down, looking over the envelope. He desperately wanted to read it, to see who it was from and see what they had to say, but he knew better than to read someone else's letters. He sighed again and closed his eyes, trying to disappear to a place far away from Hogwarts, from his life, from his sexuality.

* * *

><p><em>Harry pulled his invisibility cloak tighter round himself, to retain some of his body heat which was rapidly leaving him in the cold night air. The only thing currently on his mind was how he wished he'd put something on his feet; he couldn't feel his toes and his feet were blue. He quietly tip-toed up the stairs of the astronomy tower, not knowing what was at the top, only knowing he needed to get up there. He finally reached the top, feeling dizzy and out of breath. No one was there. He sighed, feeling confused, and freezing. He contemplated starting a small fire, or just leaving, when he heard footsteps echoing upwards. He shuffled backwards into a corner and waited for whoever it was to appear. Several minutes later, Malfoy appeared; the moonlight reflecting off his platinum blonde hair as if it were a mirror. Despite it being the early hours of the morning, he looked like he had somewhere to be; wearing his black suit - with a white shirt and black tie, and shined black shoes. Harry stepped out of the corner, still covered by the invisibility cloak. Malfoy took in a deep breath and leant on the railings, looking over the grounds. Harry stepped even closer, seeing how close he could get. A small gust of wind blew Malfoy's scent up Harry's nostrils - it was a musky scent, with a hint of aftershave. Tantalised by his smell, Harry didn't notice when a stronger gust of wind blew his invisibility cloak off him. Malfoy took in another deep breath and turned round, jumping when he saw Harry Potter stood not two feet from him.<em>

_"What the hell are you doing Potter?"_

_Harry's eyes fluttered open; "Malfoy! Uh-"_

_"-Were you... Were you smelling me!"_

_Harry stepped back, fiddling with his fingers; "no! I was just, I was-"_

_"-You freak! Turned gay scar-head?"_

_A smirk spread across Malfoy's face when Harry didn't reply instantly. He began walking circles round Harry, judging him. Harry felt a large lump in his throat, stopped any distinguishable words leaving his mouth._

_"I'm not-not gay!"_

_"You're not, not gay? So, you're gay then?" Malfoy sneered._

_"No! I, I stammered, I'm not gay!"_

_Malfoy suddenly jumped over to Harry, grabbing the shoulder of his t-shirt and pushing him over to the wall, pinning him against it; "could have fooled me..."_

_Harry took in a sharp breath, Malfoy's scent rushing up his nostrils again. Malfoy smirked and leant closer, loving the power he held over his enemy._

_"You'd really like to kiss me now wouldn't you scar-head."_

_Harry shook his head; "no."_

_"Admit it!"_

_Malfoy's scent was driving Harry crazy, it had created a thick mist in his brain, disallowing him to form sentences, which was not a good thing at this moment. If there was one thing you needed when being accused of anything was the abillity to answer the allegations. Harry currently had no such power, and Malfoy used it to his advantage._

_"Come on then Potter, kiss me if you love me so much!"_

_Harry squirmed; "I, don't, I don't want to-"_

_"-Kiss me!"_

_Malfoy suddenly covered Harry's face, suffocating him._

Harry thrashed about before sitting bolt upright. The letter stuck to his face. He'd managed to suck it to his mouth when he was breathing heavily. It still had it's smell, and now Harry knew who it belonged to. He remembered an encounter he'd had recently with Malfoy, and he smelt exactly the same. He looked around the dorm room; Ron, Seamus, Neville and Dean were asleep. Harry pulled the curtains round his bed closed and conjured a light so he could read. He frantically ripped the envelope open, suddenly wavering the right to privacy, because it was Malfoy. The first thing he checked was it was actually from Malfoy; it was. He took in a deep breath and began to read.


	2. First Correspondence

_**Last time: Harry pulled the curtains round his bed closed and conjured a light so he could read. He frantically ripped the envelope open, suddenly wavering the right to privacy, because it was Malfoy. The first thing he checked was it was actually from Malfoy; it was. He took in a deep breath and began to read...**_

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><p><em>Dear Aleksander,<em>  
><em>It's been really hard since I last spoke to you. It used to just be a couple of boys, but now it's nearly every boy I see. I say nearly because there are some guys here no one in their right mind would go near, like Crabbe, Goyle, and Weasley. And now to make things worse, there's one person I've been staring at more than I should be. You remember Harry Potter don't you? Saint Potter, saviour of the universe, my sworn enemy, and the one person I can't take my mind off.<em>  
><em>I really need your help Aleks, if it were anyone else it probably wouldn't be so bad, but Potter! Have you had any problems?<em>  
><em>Write back soon,<em>  
><em>Draco.<em>

Harry read, and re-read the letter several times, trying to find a sense of innocence. Nowhere in the letter did it say "I'm gay", but that was the only conclusion Harry could come to. That, and Harry was his new crush. He suddenly wished he hadn't read the letter, he really didn't want to know what he now did. But now he knew, and what was he to do?

The devil on his shoulder appealed to his sadistic side._ "Pass it round, show everyone, it's what he'd do if the roles were reversed. Four years of torment will turn around and bite him in the arse... Or blackmail! Tell Draco you know, and if he doesn't do as you say, you'll out him..."_

However, the Angel on his shoulder had a louder voice. _"You're not that sort of person Harry, imagine if the roles WERE reversed. You wouldn't want anyone to know. You've told one person in deepest confidence, and suddenly the one person you don't want to know, knows. Draco's a human being, a swine, but he's still a human. But you can use this to your advantage. You can write to Draco, get your feelings across to him, instead of curling up in a ball of angst. This may even do wonders for your relationship."_

Harry looked over the letter again. He remembered all the times he'd seen or run into Malfoy in the past week. He'd looked withdrawn, he hadn't sneered at Harry when they bumped into each other, he had no snappy comebacks to anything he said. He'd also been looking over at him a lot.

"It makes sense," Harry mumbled, slipping the letter back into the envelope. He knew he had to keep it to himself, it wouldn't be fair if he shared this, even just with Ron and Hermione; but he knew deep inside this wouldn't help himself with his own feelings. He hid the letter under his pillow and lay down, turning the lights off.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Draco wasn't feeling well. He sat at the Slytherin table, watching his corn flakes get soggy whilst his stomach lurched at the idea of eating anything. He looked up. Potter was sat directly opposite him on the other side of the Hall; he was also staring at him. Draco narrowed his eyes, planning to out-stare him. They both stared intensely at each other, people who noticed were a little worried they were going to dive over the tables and starting fighting. Draco eventually won; Longbottom hadn't noticed the glaring war and sat in front of Harry. Draco smirked to himself and pushed his bowl of cornflakes away from him, grabbing an apple, intending on eating it later. He got up from the table and stalked out of the Great Hall, only once glancing over at Potter; he was watching him walk out.<p>

"What's his problem now?" he mumbled to himself, throwing his apple from hand to hand. He knew he'd been staring a Harry a lot more, but Harry had started staring back.

"Malfoy!"

Draco turned round, Crabbe and Goyle were lumbering towards him, hands full of food. Draco sighed and waited for them to get over to him.

"Yeah?"

"You off to Potions?"

"Obviously..."

They nodded and waited for him to carry on walking. He sighed and continued walking down to the dungeons, wondering what to do about Potter. It wasn't like he 'wanted' to like him, it was completely involuntary. Stupid Potter and his messy brown hair; stupid Potter and his athletic build. Stupid Malfoy for catching a glimpse of Potter half naked in the Quiddich changing rooms. It had been that, that cultivated Draco's attraction to Potter. The Slytherin and Gryffindor Quiddich teams were practising in close proximity; the Slytherin team had just finished a practice and were getting changed, meanwhile the Gryffindor team were also getting changed to go out to practice. Draco was walking through the changing rooms, looking for the captain when he noticed Potter, stood half naked talking to Weasley. He found himself staring for a minute or two, without being noticed, and since then hadn't been able to get the image out of his head.

Meanwhile, Harry was contemplating writing back to Malfoy, pretending to be Aleksander. The main problems were, the handwriting would be a lot different, and he didn't know how to write like English wasn't his first language. Hermione noticed how distant he looked.

"Harry, are you all right?"

Harry snapped back to reality; "yeah... Hey Hermione, you don't know any spells that can change your handwriting, so you can forge things..."

Hermione eyed him suspiciously; "why?"

"Just to cause a bit of trouble, you know... Maybe pretend to be Malfoy and write something that could ruin him..."

Hermione studied him for a couple of seconds; "I know one... It doesn't change the handwriting, so much as trick the reader into thinking it's from who it says it's from."

"Yeah! That's perfect!"

"Ok, the spell's 'subjectio furta'"

Harry nodded; "thanks... Oh, and, have you heard from Krum recently?"

"Sort of, why?"

"Just wondering..."

Hermione rolled her eyes and finished her breakfast. Harry went back into deep thought, wondering what he could write. He'd figured out Aleksander was one of the Bulgarians from last year, so his main problem was being able to write like one.

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><p>That evening, Harry had managed to persuade Hermione in letting him read one of her letters from Krum, memorising how they wrote, and remembering how they talked. He rushed up to his room and grabbed his quill and notebook. After several drafts, he'd finally figured out what to write.<p>

_Dear Draco,_  
><em>I remember Potter, you spoke about him a lot. Why do you like him suddenly? What changed? And you said you like lots of boys, so, is Potter really that different? It could just be crush, you will get over him.<em>  
><em>I'm good. I have a friend you can write to as well, he is very good with problems, his name is Boris Petrov. Write to him, he has better advice.<em>  
><em>Aleksander<em>

He mused over it, wondering if Malfoy would take the bait, and write to Aleks' new friend. He decided to go and post it before he got second thoughts. He cast the spell Hermione had taught him and ran up to the owlry to give it to a random owl, one Malfoy wouldn't recognise. As he watched it fly away, he began getting seconds thoughts.

"Too late now," he muttered. He sighed and walked back down to the Gryffindor common room. He lay on his bed, thinking about Malfoy, whilst pretending to listen to Ron, Nevillle and Dean's conversation.

What if he doesn't take the bait? I can't pretend to be Aleksander forever!

What is he does take the bait? What will I say?

* * *

><p>Draco too, was lying on his bed, thinking deeply whilst not listening to conversations. However, he was thinking about the consequences of him coming out.<p>

_What would everyone say? 'Draco Malfoy', boy liker._

_What would father say? He'd beat me and disown me..._

He sighed loudly and rolled over, facing away from his friends. He couldn't stand their company at the moment, he wanted to be alone, all the time, He didn't want to go to lessons, or play Quiddich; he just wanted to lie in bed, and go nowhere until this phase had passed.

"Draco! A letter's come for you!"

Draco sat up; Pansy Parkinson - his on again, off again girlfriend - was waving an envelope about. She skipped over to him, sitting on the edge of the bed and passed it to him. She didn't however, let go. Instead, she gave him a seductive look and pursed her lips. Draco cringed and pecked her quickly on the lips, snatching the letter off her. He'd kissed Pansy many times before, but now it just felt wrong. He looked around and took the letter to the corner of the dorm-room to read it. He felt a little underwhelmed upon reading the letter; he expected more advice. But Aleksander probably knew what he was doing. He went back to his bed and grabbed his notebook and quill from his trunk and went back to the corner to write a reply. Also, desperate to get the situation solved, he took Aleks' only advice and wrote a letter to Boris. He felt somewhat embarrassed, writing down his feelings about Harry, and very wary about what he did write, in case anyone saw it. To Boris, he wrote a quick summary of what his problems were. He felt strangely relieved to write his feelings down, to get them off his chest, even if they were to a complete stranger. He read the letters over before going to give them to an owl. He got up and went to put his shoes on.

"Where are you going Draco?" Pansy asked, jumping up.

"Just going to post some letters."

"I'll come with you."

She attached herself to his arm. Grimacing, he managed to pull his arm from her grip.

"No Pansy, it's all right, I'll only be a few minutes."

"But the owlry is so far away, on the other side of the school!"

Draco smiled meekly; "I'm a big boy Pansy, I'll survive the walk, and you'll survive without me."

Pamsy sighed loudly and slumped down on his bed. Malfoy felt in his pocket that he still had the letter he'd received, to make sure no one got their hands on it, and went up to the owlry.

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><p>The next morning, Harry wasn't feeling hungry; he felt uneasy about whether Malfoy had fallen for his attempt at being Aleksander. He picked at his cereal and watched for Malfoy to turn up. He eventually did. He looked a little perkier than he had done in recent days. When he caught Harry looking at him he didn't glare, or sneer, or look at all disgusted. He actually looked back at him as if they were old friends. Harry looked down at his bowl, feeling uneasy. Did he know? Was he planning something really evil? He suddenly became extremely hot and uncomfortable, afraid Malfoy had some sick, sadistic plan in mind. All his fears went away when the owls turned up, and the same messy brown one from the previous night dropped two letters onto his lap. Harry choked on his own spit, when he saw the elegant handwriting.<p>

"He fell for it?"

Ron looked over; "who did what?"

Harry his the letters under his pullover; "nothing, ignore me... I've got to go."

He jumped up and ran out of the Great Hall, down corridors to an empty one and slumped against a wall, sliding down it; sitting cross-legged, looking at the envelopes. He decided to open the one to Aleksander first. He tore it open and unfolded the letter inside.

_Dear Aleksander_  
><em>My fascination with Potter started a couple of weeks ago. We were in the Quiddich changing rooms, he was getting dressed and I saw him. He has a really good body! And now I can't get him off my mind. And I don't think this one will just go like the others, the others came and went in a couple of days, Potter's been plaguing me for weeks! It doesn't help he keeps staring at me. Am I just seeing things?<em>  
><em>Draco.<em>

Harry looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember the time he and Draco shared the changing room. It then dawned at him, the only time they had, he was stood for ten minutes in just his boxers. He didn't understand Draco's attraction, but the two of them never did see eye-to-eye. He put the letter to Aleks at his side and picked up the one to Boris.

"Can't believe he fell for this," he mumbled, sliding his finger under the seal and pulling the letter out.

_Boris,_  
><em>I think Aleksander may have mentioned me, but if not, I'm Draco Malfoy, from Hogwarts, in England. Aleks mentioned you were good at helping people with their problems and put me on to you.<em>  
><em>My problem is that I'm gay, and can't come out, and it's slowly killing me. I really want to come out to ease my mind, but no one will react well. My peers will ridicule me and probably do horrible things, and my father, well, he'd probably kill me. And to make things worse, I've started liking my biggest enemy. I used to hate him, now I can't stop thinking about him... What can I do?<em>  
><em>Write back,<em>  
><em>Draco<em>

Harry rubbed his forehead, looking blankly at the letter. Hie views on Malfoy had changed drastically in just over a day. He knew by pretending to be 'Boris' he could get his feelings out to Draco, tell someone about his own struggles, and maybe even develop a relationship with Draco not based on hate. He stuffed the letters into his bag, pulled himself up, and set off to History of Magic.

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><p><strong><em>Please review. This is my first Drarry fic, I'd like to know how I'm doing. Thank you to everyone who added this to their favouritesalerts._**


	3. Potions Lesson

Draco ran his hand through his blonde hair and sighed, meandering up the corridors, thinking to himself. He'd managed to escape Pansy Parkinson, who'd recently become nearly obsessed with him. She always got 'obsessed' when she'd decided she wanted to go back out with him; she'd flirt in a less than subtle way, blatantly giving hints of wanting him to ask her out. However, at the beginning of the school year, he vowed to himself to never go back out with her. He couldn't stand her company, and only dated her to suppress his loneliness and sexual frustration. Now he was more frustrated than ever, but no girl could help him with it. As he wandered, he failed to look where he was going and bumped into someone, who also wasn't looking where they were going. He looked up and was met by the bright green eyes of Harry Potter. They both paused, a bit stunned they'd walked into each other before stepping to the side and walking around. Draco mumbled;

"watch where you're going."

Harry just nodded and looked at his feet, walking on. Draco walked on too, feeling awkward, with a slight butterfly feeling in his stomach.

Harry glanced back at Draco, having just come down from the owlry, posting the letters Draco was soon to receive. The biggest mystery throughout this ordeal, was why the owl continued to think he was Aleksander. He'd gotten it right for so long, and now suddenly it thought Harry was Draco's pen-pal. Not that he was really complaining, but it was extremely confusing.

The next morning, Harry finally had something else on his mind. He hadn't done his Potions essay and was scribbling furiously onto a piece of parchment what he could hear from Ron, Dean, Seamus and Neville dictating things from their own essays. Hermione was busy shaking her head at the situation to help Harry with his essay. He paused for a second to have a gulp of his pumpkin juice at the same time the owls swooped into the Great Hall. He paused for another second to see if Malfoy got any letters; he did. Now he knew he'd never get his essay done, and was prepared to face the consequences. He put his quill down and sighed. Hermione looked at him urgently.

"Harry! You need to do the essay! Or else Snape will give you a detention!"

He help up his parchment; "really Hermione? He'd give me one for this rubbish! I'd rather look lazy than stupid."

Hermione rolled her eyes and shifted her gaze to the copy of the Daily Prophet and owl had just dropped in front of her. Harry looked back over to the Slytherin table, but it was missing a certain blonde haired boy. His eyes shot to the entrance, Malfoy was hurrying out of the Hall, clutching his letters in his hand. Harry knew he had to wait until Potions to see him.

However, the moment he got into Potions he wished he had done his essay, no matter how bad it would have been. Snape was in a foul mood; he stormed into the room, slamming the door shut and marched up to the top of the classroom, a horrifying scowl on his face.

"Everyone come up and give me your essays. Now. If you don't have them you can tell me why."

Everyone began rummaging through their things to get their essay and stood up to give it to Snape. Then, he did something no one was expecting. Blaise Zabini was the first to give Snape his essay. Snape pointed at the front desk at the left.

"Get your things, sit there."

Blaise nodded and went to move his things. Hermione was the second to hand in her essay. Snape ordered her to sit next to Blaise. Crabbe was the first to not have an essay. He was ordered to sit at the back table. Harry was worried what was going to happen. Clearly everyone who'd done the essay were sitting at the front, and those who hadn't would be sat at the back. He hoped someone else hadn't done their essay, so he wouldn't have to sit next to Crabbe. Luckily, Goyle hadn't either. Ron was seated next to Seamus Finnigan; Neville was next to Pansy Parkinson. Snape clearly didn't care who was sat next to who. Harry finally got up to Snape, and was ordered to sit at the back table in the middle. The last thing he expected was to have the Slytherin prefect, and Snape's favourite student sit next to him. Clearly, Snape was in no mood to have any favourites. Malfoy dumped his books on the desk and rest his head in his arms, looking away from Harry.

"Everyone who handed their essays in, turn to page two-hundred and seventy-two and do the potion in your new pairs. Those who didn't, do the essay you failed to complete in time, and stay behind after class. Now!"

Everyone jumped into action. Harry pulled his books towards him and took the lid off his bottle of ink. He'd just written the essay title when Malfoy started moving. He opened his notebook, the letters he'd recieved that morning slid out towards Harry. He glanced at them, Malfoy snatched them off the desk and stuffed them messily into his pocket. They both looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes before getting on with their work. Throughout the essay, all Harry could think about was how to get closer to Malfoy. He placed his text book on the edge of the desk, before "accidentally" knocking it off. He leant down to pick it up, also leaning towards Malfoy. His cheek rubbed on Malfoy's sleeve, Malfoy's scent rushing up his nostrils.

Draco noticed Potter was rubbing up against him, taking an unnaturally long time picking up his book. He was going to snap at him, tell him to hurry up, but he didn't want to. If anything he wanted him to rub up closer. He looked down at him, "struggling" to reach his books and inhaled. Potter had a 'just-out-of-the-shower' smell. Draco smirked, somewhat titillated by the raven-haired boy's clean smell. He was brought out of his daze by said boy head-butting him on his way back up. They both looked at each other in shock.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Potter eyed him confoundedly; "what am I doing? Why were you leaning over me?"

Draco paused, trying to think up a good enough lie; "...Just looking at what you've written."

He shrugged and shuffled over to his side of the desk, pretending Potter's work was of a very low standard. In return, Potter eyed him suspiciously.

"...Right?"

"Just drop it Potter."

Draco looked away so he couldn't even see the Gryffindor in the corner of his eye and tried to focus on his work.

At the end of the lesson, the four boys who hadn't done their essay stayed behind whilst their peers went for break. Snape marched over and snatched their essays from in front of them.

"You think this is acceptable? Detention tonight," he barked at Crabbe and Goyle. Harry sighed, his work appeared to be of a good enough standard to not merit him a detention.

"Can we go now, sir?" Malfoy asked. Snape glared.

"No! The four of you will do today's lesson in your break. Page two-seven-two, work in pairs, now!"

He eyed Harry and Malfoy suspiciously before going up to his desk. Harry and Malfoy also eyed each other suspiciously.

"You get the stuff, I'll set up the cauldron," Malfoy mumbled, loud enough for Harry to hear. He nodded and took his text-book to the shelves, picking out the necessary ingredients. The two of them managed to work quite harmoniously, not wanting to anger Snape further with their petty differences. Their only argument occurred when Harry went to put in an ingredient ahead of time, and Malfoy told him off.

"Just sit there Potter! I'm not having you fuck this up!" Malfoy sneered, pushing Harry towards his seat.

"Language Malfoy!" Snape reminded. Malfoy nodded and muttered; "sorry sir", before continuing. Harry sighed and sat down, watching Malfoy finish the potion, his chin resting in his hand. He managed to adopt a bored look to disguise the fact he was watching Malfoy quite intently. Small beads of sweat would develop on his forehead due to the heat of the fire, which Malfoy would wipe away with the sleeve of his shirt. His eyes were locked intensely on the brewing potion, only shifting to the text book and ingredients. The only time he took his eyes off anything potion related, was when there was a loud bang to their left. Crabbe and Goyle had gone wrong somewhere, and their cauldron had exploded. Snape growled.

"Idiots! Clean it up and leave! And be here at eight tonight! ...You two, carry on."

Harry sighed and went back to watching Malfoy, his new favourite past-time. Eventually they finished the potion, just before the bell went for their next lesson. Malfoy ladled some into a flask and put it on Snape's desk, before he and Harry ran out to their next lessons.

That evening, Draco finally got a moment to himself. He took his bag and owl up to the Astronomy Tower, to be alone. He pulled his letters out of his pocket and un-crumpled them, re-reading them to remind him of what they said.

_Draco,_  
><em>You're probably right, Potter sounds like more than just a teenage crush. If he's on your mind this much, you probably do like him, a lot. You could be reading too much into him looking at you. But he could be looking at you too. Do you know if he's straight? He could be gay too.<em>  
><em>And don't worry, you may move on eventually.<em>  
><em>Aleksander.<em>

Draco sighed, thinking about what had been said. Potter, gay? Unlikely, he's Mr Perfect. Hero, good looking, popular, and certainly not gay! He fancied that Ravenclaw girl anyway, it was pretty obvious. He put Aleks' letter down and picked up Boris'

_Draco,_  
><em>Yes, Aleks did mention you, but told me nothing of you, only that you needed some help. If I'm honest I'm not the best 'agony aunt', but I'll give it a shot.<em>  
><em>This problem with you being gay, are you sure it's a problem? Your friends would get over it eventually, it doesn't change who you are, you'll still be you, you'll just like boys instead of girls. I don't know what to do about your father though, that does sound like a real problem. Perhaps come out to him at a suitable time?<em>  
><em>And now this crush... It's probably very strong because you used to hate him. The more you tell yourself it's wrong, the more right it feels. Just embrace it? Be proud of who you are! You never know, you could inspire some people to be proud of who they are. The amount of people at Hogwarts, there's bound to be at least one other gay person.<em>  
><em>I hope to hear back, maybe you could help me with my own problems.<em>  
><em>Boris.<em>

Draco pulled his notebook onto his lap and skimmed over the letter once more. Boris seemed to be more helpful, it was if he knew exactly what he was going through. He wrote one last letter to Aleks, deciding to adopt a new Bulgarian agony aunt. Even if his advice was a bit stupid. Come out? Not bloody likely. He finally managed to write his replies and gave them to the owl. Whilst writing he'd decided upon a plan of action. Stalk Potter. After thinking about it, he hadn't seen him near that Cho Chang in a while, and he seemed to be a little distant, always in deep thought. He could maybe even find out what makes Potter tick, seducing him might not be that much of a problem. Malfoys were notorious for getting what they wanted.

He went back down to ground level Hogwarts, thinking about where Potter may be. He stalked up and down corridors, hoping to bump into him, for a chance to insult him or anger him. Anything to get his attention. He finally got what he wanted. Potter was slowly wandering down a corridor with Granger and Weasley.

"Well if it isn't Boy Wonder and his side-kicks."

The three of them turned round.

"Get lost Malfoy," Weasley replied. Draco laughed.

"Get lost? Is that it? Words never were your strong-point, were they Weaslebee."

"They are mine though! Why don't you find someone else to torment Malfoy, you'll find no satisfaction in annoying us, because we won't react," Granger said. Draco laughed again.

"Oh, but you have reacted Mudblood. What about you Scarhead? Nothing to say? Or are you too busy staring at me, as usual?"

Potter was staring at him. He shook his head, coming out of his daydream.

"I don't stare at you."

"Yeah you do, you do it all the time. You think I don't notice."

Draco walked closer to them; "you were doing it today in Potions. And you tried to stick your face in my lap... Something you want to tell everyone?"

Granger and Weasley looked at Potter suspiciously. Potter glared.

"I'm not gay, how dare you insinuate I am!"

Draco held his hands up in defence; "hey, I'm just making an observation. You think I don't notice when someone tries to smell me? You'd really like to kiss me wouldn't you."

Harry had nothing to say, his dream from the other night was coming true.

"Who would want to go near you, let alone kiss that disgusting mouth of yours?" Hermione replied, venomously. Malfoy smirked.

"More people would rather kiss me than touch you, with your filthy blood."

Hermione held Ron back who wanted to hit Malfoy. Malfoy just laughed.

"Really Potter, do you always let your friends fight your battles?"

Harry's eyes narrowed, after weeks of Malfoy almost avoiding him, it was as if he was deliberately trying to provoke him; "what do you want Malfoy? If this is just a plea for attention then you must be very lonely. Has Pansy found some other idiot to fawn over? Or are you not looking for female attention?"

Malfoy laughed, an unexpected reaction to Harry; "that's your comeback? I call you gay, so you call me gay? Well done Potter."

"What ever Malfoy, I'm not sticking around for you to get your kicks from, go find something else to do to fill your empty life."

Before he could reply, Harry grabbed Ron's arm and dragged him down the corridor. Malfoy sighed and watched the three Gryffindors walk away from him. The encounter hadn't be how he thought it'd be, he assumed he'd wind Potter up enough for him to pin him against the wall in anger, like he had done so many times before. Despite his odd fantasies, there was something about Potter than made Draco question some things. For example, his non-reaction to Draco asking if he wanted to kiss him. He didn't get nearly as angry as he should have done. The Slytherin scratched the back of his head and set off down to the dungeons, contemplating some new theories about Potter.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Please do review, I'd love to hear what you all think, where I may be going wrong, etc. (: Please keep any criticism constructive though!<strong>


	4. Confusion

Harry was sat by the fire, surrounded by his friends who were chatting around him. Hermione and Ginny were scolding Ron for not caring about his Transifguration homework, whilst Dean and Seamus discussed Quiddich. Harry meanwhile, was deep in thought, staring in the flames. Draco Malfoy was on his mind - as usual. He was dragged out of his thoughts upon hearing "Malfoy". He looked up at Ron who'd said it.

"You didn't say, how was detention with Snape?"

Harry shrugged; "not that bad actually. Malfoy wouldn't let me do the potion, so I didn't do anything."

"Was he, being nice?" Ginny asked, somewhat horrified by the idea that Malfoy could have a nice side. Harry laughed.

"No! He just didn't want me to mess it up and have us have another detention."

"Oh right, that's better then."

Harry nodded and looked around, everyone went back to their conversations. The evening dragged on, people came and went, the friends were joined by the Weasley twins, and the Creevey brothers. Harry managed to keep to himself and not have to talk to many people; which kept him happy. He had nothing to say to anyone. He was thinking about going up to bed when Neville came into the common room with two letters, looking confused.

"What's the matter Neville?" Hermione asked. Neville held up the letters.

"An owl just gave me these, but they're not for me. They're for an Aleksander, and Boris..."

Harry jumped up, adrenaline rushing around his body; "they're for me!"

He held his hand out to take them but Hermione beat him to it.

"Really Harry? I don't believe you."

"They are, I swear! Remember that spell I asked you for, I'm pretending to be someone and-"

"-That writing looks like Malfoy's... Are you writing to him!"

"No!"

He managed to snatch the letters off her and conceal them under his jumper. Hermione advanced towards him.

"Tell us Harry, who are you writing to?"

"No one, I swear, it's not important, just..."

He ran out of the common room, up the stairs to the boys dorm and through to the bathroom, locking the door behind him, leaving everyone in the common room sharing confused looks.

"He's up to something," Ginny muttered. Hermione nodded.

Harry sat against the door, to ensure no one tried to get into the bathroom and pulled the letters from under his jumper. Before opening them, he put them up to his face, taking in a deep breath through his nose, smelling Draco's scent that was on the letters. He sighed contently, before opening the one for Aleksander.

_Aleks,_  
><em>I'm pretty sure Potter is straight, he's been after this girl in the year above for a while. But at the same time, I haven't seen him near her in a while... I'll go investigate. By which I mean annoy him and bully him to get a reaction.<em>  
><em>Thank you for putting me onto Boris, he's a big help.<em>  
><em>I'll write again soon if I get any news.<em>  
><em>Draco.<em>

Harry smirked, knowing Draco was just provoking him for attention earlier. He was just desperate for Harry to notice him. It could just work to both of their advantages if they were caught together. Thoughts began running through Harry's mind, on how to provoke Malfoy. Bump into him, accidentally touch him, get close to him in crowds... He shook his head in an attempt to shake the thoughts from his head and picked up the letter to Boris.

_Boris_  
><em>Me coming out to the school is definitely not an option, it's just not going to happen. I'd be setting myself up for all sorts of ridicule and abuse, it's not worth it. I doubt there's another gay person at this school, if you saw them you'd understand. The school is plagued by couples being disgusting in corridors, and the only people who aren't in on the action are the ones who never will be. Like the Gryffindor, Longbottom. The day he gets a girlfriend is the day I come out.<em>  
><em>I don't want to embrace my liking for Potter, it's wrong on so many levels. I hate him, I can't stand him. But at the same time I don't want to be around anyone but Potter. But he's been acting weird lately. Today in Potions he couldn't take his eyes off me! And kept rubbing up against me...<em>  
><em>Out of curiosity, what are your problems? I'm not half bad at giving advice, I'm just awful at following it myself.<em>  
><em>Draco<em>

Harry cringed, he'd nearly been caught out today, he'd have to watch what he did. He folded the letters up and put them in his pocket, before checking the dorm room was clear. He rushed over to his trunk and hid the letters with the rest, he was sure his friends wouldn't even consider looking inside the frame of a picture of him, Ron and Hermione. He'd decided to write back in the morning in History of Magic, he just had to be able to get a seat on his own, or make sure Ron fell asleep. It had been a long day, and sleep didn't sound like a bad idea. He got changed into his pyjamas and crawled into bed, pulling the curtains shut around him. He lay his head down and closed his eyes, and suddenly didn't feel tired. It happened often. He'd be tired all day, but the moment he got into bed and closed his eyes, he was wired. He lay staring at the ceiling, thinking about things that could help him fall asleep. Professor Binns talking about the Order of Merlin. Nothing. Professor Binns talking about Goblin Wars. Nothing. He poked his head out of the curtains and the clock on his bedside table, to see how late it was. Any time now his friends would be coming up to bed. He crawled to the foot of his bed and pulled the curtain back, so he could get into his trunk. He pulled out the Marauders Map and his invisibility cloak and hid them underneath his covers; planning on pretending to be asleep if anyone checked, and sneaking out after everyone was asleep.

It had just gone midnight, Harry, concealed by the invisibility cloak, had just sneaked out of the common room and was scanning the Marauders Map intently to find the name of his blonde enemy. He finally found him, three corridors down from the One-Eyed Witch Passageway. Harry jogged as quickly and quietly as he could to the passageway, to hide his cloak and map, just before checking Malfoy would pass him. Not even having a plan of action, Harry began walking slowly, - as if he was just meandering on a late-night walk - towards the intersecting corridor he knew Malfoy was on. The light coming from Malfoy's wand got brighter and brighter until the boys were suddenly face-to-face. Malfoy jumped a mile, not expecting to see Harry.

"Potter! What on Earth are you doing?"

Harry shrugged innocently; "just taking a walk, what does it matter to you?"

"I, am prefect! Everything you do matters to me! You do know you're not supposed to be out of bed at this hour."

A smirk spread to Harry's face; "neither are you. What would mummy say if she knew you were out of bed at this hour!"

"Keep talking Potter, you've already got one hour's detention, want to make that two?"

"Bring it on, I know you just want to spend time with me."

Draco's confident smirk faltered for a second; "I think you have me confused with someone else."

"I don't think so... You say I stare at you, how would you know if you weren't staring at me first? You keep provoking me, just because you want my attention. It's _you_ who likes _me_!"

Draco's smirk left his face completely, replaced with a scowl; "how dare you!"

Harry, bravely, took a step closer to Malfoy, their noses nearly touching. He wondered how strong Malfoy's resistance was; would he push him away or pull him closer?

"Come on Malfoy, you want to kiss me!"

Malfoy grabbed the front of Harry's jumped with both hands and forced him against the wall; "you've got some nerve, Potter."

Harry couldn't help but smirk; "people tell me I do. I also tend to get one people's nerves too... Am I getting on yours?"

"You always get on my nerves, just by being alive."

Harry pouted; "now, you don't mean that."

Malfoy closed the gap between them, pressing his body against his; "I've never, ever meant anything more! I hate you, I loathe you! The way you strut around this castle, the way you think the world should bow down to you, like you're some mystical lord-"

"-My beautiful green eyes? My body?"

Malfoy pulled away, eyeing Harry suspiciously; "...What?"

"You know..."

Malfoy let go of Harry and backed away; "...What are you talking about?"

Harry shrugged; "nothing... I'll be going back to bed now..."

Malfoy was too shocked to say anything, and let Harry walk off without another word said between them. Harry took in a deep breath as he retrieved his cloak and map.

Draco was rooted to the spot, so much adrenaline was pumping around his body which temporarily paralysed him. His skin was hot and prickly, and Potter's clean smell lingered in the air. He was suspicious about what Potter had said, did he know? He certainly seemed to make out he did. Draco wished he'd had the guts to just kiss him, at least then he'd have a definite answer. But then, if Harry wasn't gay, chances were he'd tell the school... It wasn't worth it. He was finally able to move. He decided to just hurry back to his bed, curl up and try to forget the day had happened.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Draco couldn't get the previous night's events out of his mind. The scenario kept running through his mind, but with different endings. His favourite being Harry kissing him back when he went in for a kiss, and the two of them making love there on the corridor. He had to tell his friends to go ahead without him that morning when that thought came to his head. He slumped down at the Slytherin table, looking at the food in front of him, not feeling at all hungry. Pansy Parkinson suddenly scooted up to him and slipped her arm though his, resting her head on his shoulder.<p>

"Morning Draco."

Draco nodded; "hello."

"Are you all right?"

Draco hummed and scanned the Hall for Potter. He was sat at the far end of the Gryffindor table with his friends. He'd occasionally throw his head back and laugh, ruffling his hair up, and stretch, making his shirt tighten across his chest. Draco sighed and looked down at the table. Pansy rubbed up against him.

"Draco... Have I got something in my eye?"

Draco sighed and turned to look at her; "what are you-"

Before he could finish Pansy pulled him into a kiss, holding his head against hers so he couldn't pull away and sticking her tongue into his mouth, Draco's arms flailed about in shock, people around wolf whistled and hooted at the kiss. When she finally let go Draco - without thinking- wiped his mouth and pulled a face of disgust. He grabbed a glass of pumpkin juice and drank as much as he could in one gulp, which glancing over towards the Gryffindors. Potter was looking over at him with a face of disgust. Clearly Draco wasn't the only one repulsed by Pansy. He looked back at Pansy, who looked ready to burst into tears.

"What did you do that for?"

Pansy's lip wobbled; "I thought-"

"-Thought what? I don't want to, even touch you! Let alone go out with you! Just, get away from me!"

Pansy began wailing and ran out of the great Hall. Everyone around on the Slytherin table looked at Draco, a little shocked by what had just happened. Draco sighed and got up too, storming out of the Hall. When he got onto the main corridor he slumped against the wall and hid his face in his hands. He took in a couple of deep breaths and rubbed his eyes, full of rage and frustration.

"Not enjoy the kiss Malfoy?"

Draco looked up, Potter had just walked out of the Hall.

"Piss off."

Potter smirked; "it's not the right if it's not me, is it."

"I said piss off!"

"Suit yourself... Here I was, going to let you."

Draco looked at Harry blankly; "you... You what?"

"What? I didn't say anything..."

Potter walked off, leaving Draco more confused than he'd ever been.

Harry meanwhile, felt he could walk down the corridor with his head held high. He thought that by messing with Malfoy like this, it would help him figure out that he may have been gay too. It was also very fun, making him squirm.

About five minutes into History of Magic, Ron fell asleep, leaving Harry to write his reply to Malfoy.

_Draco,_  
><em>I understand, people can be cruel, especially teenagers who don't understand, but there will be at least one other person who knows what you're going through, it's statistically impossible for you to be the only one. And I understand, couples kissing everywhere can be infuriating, it's more inconsiderate than anything else. No one wants to see that as they're passing from lesson to lesson.<em>  
><em>We don't chose who we like Draco, love is a horrible thing. It's irrational, it ignores all logic, and sometimes it'll make you believe it's just there to torment you. This crush you have on your enemy is proof of just that. but, by what you've been describing, it sounds like Potter is showing an interest in you. Has he been doing anything else? You probably aren't reading too much into it, he could be trying to give you hints.<em>  
><em>My problems? They're pretty similar to yours... I'm gay too, but there is absolutely no way I'm coming out here! It sounds pretty hypocritical of me to tell you to come out whilst I'm stuck in the closet, but sometimes it's for the best, it's just definitely not for me.<em>  
><em>Boris.<em>

Harry nodded and folded the letter up, fashioning an envelope out of another piece of paper, slipping the letter inside. He hid it in his pocket and checked his watch. Writing that letter had taken up the majoirty of the lesson, there was only ten minutes left. After lesson he ran up to the owlry to post the letter, before running up to Divination. There was usually a ten minute break between first and second lesson, but Harry and his peers who also took Divination usually spent that ten minutes climbing the stairs to their lesson, allowing them a couple of minutes break when they got to the top to catch their breath. Harry had to run extra fast to catch up with Ron.

"Where'd you go? You just took off after last lesson," Ron asked. Harry shook his head, panting heavily.

"Went to post a letter," he managed, between deep breaths. Ron nodded and decided to hold the conversation until they got into the classroom.

That night, Draco was doing his prefect duties, wandering up and down corridors, making sure no one was out of bed. It had just gone midnight, Draco decided to go spend a bit of time by himself. He slowly climbed the stairs up to the top of the Astronomy tower; he liked to go up there, to look out over the grounds in the moonlight. The air was fresh and the view was spectacular, and he got to be alone. He'd just gotten to the top of the stairs when an owl fluttered into the tower, clutching a letter in it's beak. It perched on the railing against the window. Draco reached out, hesitantly, and took the letter. It had his name on the front. He tore open the envelope and pulled the letter out. Recently, the Bulgarians had been quicker at writing back to Draco. If he sent a letter in the morning, he was bound to get a reply either late that night, or the following morning. He read the letter several times, thinking about what 'Boris' had said. Potter was acting weird, and it wasn't even the normal standard of weird, it was beyond bizarre. He kept mentioning how Draco would like to kiss him, and had even said he'd let him. Draco couldn't help but feel frustrated with the way Potter was acting. He sighed and sat by the window, now feeling completely detached. He had someone he could talk to, but it wasn't the person he really wanted to talk to.


	5. Avoiding Friends

A couple of weeks on, Draco and Harry had been writing to each other as often as they could, each getting a response at least once a day. Draco had begun to feel better about his predicament, being gay suddenly wasn't as bad a thing as it had once been. The only thing that put him off was how bizarre Harry was acting around him. Harry, on the other hand, was feeling more frustrated. He knew his friends would accept his sexuality, but wasn't sure if they'd accept his crush on Draco. During their correspondence, Harry had managed to explain his frustrations of being gay and liking someone and wanting the tell them; Draco had managed to figure out what it was about Harry he liked but still wasn't sure about what to do about it.

Hermione and Ron had been noticing Harry's weird behaviour in general, but especially around Malfoy. Whereas in previous encounters, Harry had tried to ignore Malfoy as best he could, now he'd provoke him, and said bizarre things to get reactions out of him. He'd also spend a lot of time on his own, reading and writing letters to an unknown person under the pseudonym 'Boris'. They'd also noticed his lack of interest in Cho Chang, who he'd once been nearly obsessed with. Cho had been paying a lot attention to him recently, greeting him in corridors and trying to get his attention, but Harry rarely reacted to anything she did.

"It's like he's a different person," Hermione mumbled. Ginny nodded.

"Cho asked him to go to Hogsmeade with her yesterday, he said he had other things to do."

They both looked over at Harry was sat in the armchair by the fire, reading a letter.

"Do you know who he's writing to?"

Ron shook his head; "I've looked through his things, as per your request, and I couldn't find anything. I felt pretty bad though, he's our best mate!"

"I'm aware of that Ronald, but I'm worried about him."

"He's defeated You-know-who three times, I'm sure he's fine!"

Hermione sighed and shared an irritated look with Ginny. They both rolled their eyes and looked over at Harry. He was still reading his letter. After one more read through, he jumped out of the chair and ran up to his dorm. He grabbed his bag and went into the bathroom, locking the door behind him, writing his reply.

_Draco A hypothetical situation for you; if Harry were to come out, would you ever go after him? Public or not? I only ask because it doesn't seem you hate each other at all, you just hate what the other is. You both represent the enemy, and are obliged to hate the other, only you don't. The way you speak of him shows that, and the way you say he acts around you shows me he doesn't hate you either._  
><em>It's not going well for me. I've started speaking to Yuri a bit since last week, but he still seems to dislike me. He still taunts me and my friends, and tries to get me in trouble... If I think about it, he does a lot of the same kind of things you do to Potter... You don't think it could be for the same reasons?<em>  
><em>Boris<em>

Harry had created another person for 'Boris' to have a crush on, who had the same attributes as Draco. Strangely enough, Malfoy still hadn't caught on. Harry had written things that he was sure would give him away, but he always got a reply. Malfoy didn't even question why this Bulgarian was very good at English. Harry put the letter into an envelope, hid the letter from Malfoy with the rest and ran up to the owlry.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Draco was patrolling the corridors, for once his mind being on something other than Potter. He'd gotten a letter from his mother about the Ministry, they were suspicious about the family and were contemplating another raid on the mansion. This news had put him in a bad news, and he was deducting points from houses and giving out detentions to any student who so much as looked at him funny. He stomped up the stairs to the seventh floor, hoping to catch some Gryffindors as they went in and out of the common room. He'd just gotten to the top of the stairs when Potter nearly bumped into him. However, to stop himself hitting him, he jerked backwards, losing his footing on the stairs. Potter instinctively reached out and grabbed Draco's arm to stop him going down, however it just exacerbated things. Instead of Draco tumbling to the bottom of the stairs, he was joined by Potter, who landed on him at the bottom. Both boys groaned, Potter rolled off Draco and lay next to him, rubbing his head.<p>

"Way to go Potter."

Draco pulled himself into a sitting position and rolled up his sleeve, checking to see if he'd cut himself.

"Screw you, I went to catch you."

Draco looked down at the Gryffindor lying next to him, rubbing various limbs.

"Instead you decide to come with me and lie on me."

"Yes Malfoy, it was completely intentional! I'm sure there's easier ways to be on top of you than falling down the bloody stairs!"

A smirk tugged at the corner of Draco's lips; "so you do want to be on top of me?"

Potter sighed, finally sitting up; "don't start this now, I'm in too much pain."

"Oh boo-hoo, poor Saint Potter, it's not like I didn't fall down the stairs too! You didn't have a stupid git fall on top of you!"

"So sue me!"

Draco shook his head; hearing "screw" instead of "sue".

"What?"

"I said, so sue me."

"Oh... I think detention will suffice actually, and maybe, ten points from Gryffindor?"

Harry finally pulled himself to his feet, checking the letter he was just going to send to the boy in front of him was sufficiently concealed; "go on then, I'm past house points."

Draco's eyes narrowed; "fifty then?"

"If you want to explain to McGonagall why Gryffindor are down fifty points for me falling down the stairs, go ahead."

"Detention then."

"What? Lines? 'I will not fall down the stairs'? Think it through!"

Draco jumped up to his feet, feeling inferior on the floor whilst Potter towered over him; "watch your attitude, or I'll have grounds for detention!"

Potter shrugged; "all right."

With that he walked off; Draco stood watching him, bewildered. Every time he encountered Potter he reacted differently; he'd either, call him names, taunt him, come on to him or just ignore him. This time he reacted, without actually reacting. His behaviour was frustrating Draco beyond belief. he stormed back up the stairs, hoping to scare the life out of some first years.

Harry sighed and rubbed his head. That had been one of the closest encounters he'd had with Malfoy, and he had to act nonchalant to conceal the fact he'd accidentally touched Malfoy's crotch when pushing himself off and desperately just wanted to jump back on top of him. He decided an early night wouldn't go amiss. He hurried to the owlry and almost ran back to the common room. He ignored all his friends as he marched past them up to the boys dorm. The last thing he wanted was a confrontation about how he was acting weird. All he needed, was some privacy to think about the earlier events, and how close he'd been to blowing his cover. He got into bed and closed his eyes, remembering how Malfoy had felt underneath him, even if it was a very awkward position and he'd been in quite a bit of pain at the time.

* * *

><p><em>Harry was sat at the Gryffindor table, musing over his porridge whilst everyone around him talked. The Great Hall was strangely empty, but loud. Ron and Hermione were discussing something, but Harry couldn't make out what. He looked up and saw Malfoy sat directly opposite him on the opposite side of the Hall, staring at him intently. They both stared at each other for a few minutes until Harry's concentration was broken by a letter dropping on to his head. He opened it at stared confoundedly at the five words written on the paper inside. He looked up at Malfoy, who'd acquired a very smug smirk. Harry looked down at the note.<em>

_"I know you touched it."_

_Suddenly the Hall went quiet. He looked up, every eye was on him. The longer he stared at Malfoy, the more smug he looked. He suddenly jumped up from the Slytherin table and vaulted over all four tables before diving on Harry, sending the both to the floor._

_"I know you liked it," he whispered. Harry stared into Draco's eyes, not understanding what was going on. He could hear the whispers of people judging him, even the teachers. Whist he lay in his daze of confusion, he failed to notice Malfoy undressing him, only noticing when his cold hand touched his stomach. Harry tried to wriggle out from underneath him._

_"What are you doing?"_

_Malfoy just smirked; "I want to see."_

_"See what?"_

_"What do you think?"_

_He went for Harry's trousers, but Harry managed to crawl away. He scrambled to his feet, running out of the Hall, Malfoy close behind him._

_"I don't know what you're running for! You want this!"_

_Harry knew he was right, but his body was reacting separately from his mind. He tried to stop running and let Malfoy have his way, but he just couldn't. Suddenly, he found himself falling to the floor, as if his body had just stopped working. Malfoy caught up and stood over him, his wand in hand._

_"I had to stop you Potter, I'm not going to chase you forever."_

_With another flick of his wand, Harry was pinned to the wall by an invisible force. The smirk on Malfoy's face got bigger as he stepped up to the Gryffindor._

_"My turn."_

_He reached out and grabbed the top of Harry's trousers, but instead of undoing them he stepped even closer, pressing his body against Harry's. The blonde nuzzled his victims neck, kissing it softly. Harry couldn't stop himself moaning out Malfoy's name as kisses were left down his neck and across his collar bone. Malfoy's long, thin fingers made easy work of undoing Harry's trousers. The raven-haired boy wanted desperately to reach out and touch the Slytherin, but instead moaned at the contact, moaning once more when it stopped. Malfoy took a step back and looked over Harry, still smirking. Just then the bell went for the beginning of lessons, but it wasn't like the normal bell. Harry shut his eyes, trying to block out the noise._

When he opened them he wasn't staring at his blonde enemy, but at the ceiling of the boy's dorm.

"God fucking dammit!" he groaned, sitting up. He groaned again when he noticed the bulge under the covers. He tried to reach out and turn his alarm clock off without revealing his arousal to his slowly awakening friends. He grabbed his dressing gown off the floor next to his bed, purposely wrapping it round it round him roughly, so it rucked up around his crotch and ran to the bathroom before anyone else had even sat up.

* * *

><p>Draco was sat outside in the courtyard that morning, not wanting to join his peers for breakfast. He also didn't want to be near Pansy; she was still harassing him, no matter how cruel or humiliating he was. He'd thought about coming out just so he'd get her off his back once and for all, but knew she wouldn't accept it and probably try to turn him straight. He pulled the apple he'd taken from the Slytherin common room out of his bag and took a bite of it. He sat watching people from various houses walk past him to the Great Hall, without a care in the world. He took a second bite of his apple and stood up, going to go on a short walk. A loud screech attracted his attention. He spun round a looked up, to see an owl bearing a letter flying towards him. It dropped the letter and flew off. Draco quickly looked around before running off to a place he knew he'd definitely be alone.<p>

* * *

><p>"Morning Harry."<p>

Harry looked around to see Cho smiling at him. He smiled back, meekly.

"Morning Cho."

"Are you ok? You look a bit flustered."

Harry nodded; "I'm fine, just a bit... I don't know. Some food might help me."

Before Cho could reply, he walked off to the Gryffindor table, to his friends who were all looking at him oddly.

"You all right mate?" Ron asked. Harry sighed, knowing he'd be getting this all day.

"I'm fine!"

"All right..."

Ron looked down at his plate, knowing Harry wasn't in the best mood.

"What did Cho want?" Hermione pushed. Harry shrugged.

"Just saying hi."

"She really fancies you, you know."

"Oh, ok."

"Don't you care?"

"Not really."

Hermione sighed and looked at Ron urgently. Ron sighed and looked up at Harry, not wanting to irritate his friend, but knowing he'd get an earful from Hermione if he didn't.

"But you really fancied her last year."

"So? That was last year."

"I know, but-"

"-Just drop it! Please!"

Ron nodded and looked back down at his food, knowing that despite his attempts at getting Harry to talk, Hermione would still give him a telling off. Harry decided to grab a couple of slices of toast and go on a walk to avoid his friends. On his way out of the Hall, he bumped into Neville.

"Harry, can I talk to you?"

Harry grimaced but nodded; "ok."

They backed up into a corner so they wouldn't obstruct the entrance.

"You were making a lot of noise in bed last night."

Harry nodded sceptically; "ok?"

"You said 'Malfoy' a couple of times too... Are you all right?"

Harry shrugged; "I'm honestly fine."

"Ok, you just sounded like you were in pain or something, I was just wondering if you were having a vision or something."

Harry nodded; "I'm seriously fine, just a bad dream, you know."

Neville nodded too; "all right, see you round then."

The two of them parted ways, Harry walking slowly to his first lesson.

* * *

><p>Draco meanwhile was musing over the hypothetical situation put to him by Boris. He was unsure about what he'd do if Potter came out as gay. It would certainly answer a lot of questions, but would he come out too? There was certainly a chance for a secret romance, if Potter was up for it - chances were he definitely wouldn't be. But coming out as gay himself, that wasn't really an option. Even if people at Hogwarts got over it pretty quickly, his father would not. He'd be disowned, and nothing, to him, was worth losing his family over. He could also pretend to be straight around his parents, but there was a big chance it would go horribly wrong. He sighed and folded the letter up, planning to reply after his first lesson.<p> 


	6. Face to Face

_Boris,_  
><em>I don't think I'd go after Potter, at least not publically anyway. I'm sure I could sort something out, but it'd be highly unlikely, if not impossible. I know I don't hate him, I think I'm just bitter about who he is, whilst I'm just, me.<em>  
><em>It depends on what he does. If it's just snide remarks and name-calling, just provoking, then chances are he could be. It's a boy thing, isn't it. To show you like someone you bully them, it's the only real way to get their attention. I don't know, it'd be great if both of us had the same situation, we could resolve it together.<em>  
><em>Sorry I wasn't much help this time,<em>  
><em>Draco<em>

Harry looked over his latest letter, having no idea on how to respond. He sighed and folded the letter up, going to put it in his trunk. He pulled out things which were on top of the photo-frame he hid his letters in, the marauders map, a couple of text books, his invisibility cloak. He paused, looking at the items on his lap, before an idea came to his head. He pulled his wand from his pocket at tapped the map.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

The castle boundaries and names following footsteps appeared on the map. It was past curfew, the only people who'd be out were prefects, head boy and head girl, and members of staff. Dean, Seamus and Neville were still down in the common room; Harry quickly put his plan into action before they came up. He threw the invisibility cloak over his head, pulled the back off the photo-frame, grabbing the letters and stuffing them into his pocket and snatched his wand and map from the bed, before tiptoeing out of the common room. He checked his map and ran up the corridor, heading to the third floor. He checked his map once more, before taking off his invisibility cloak and hiding it and the map behind a pillar. He checked he still had the letters in his pocket and walked apprehensively into the trophy room. He looked around and spotted who he was looking for staring out of a window, his fingers interlocked behind his back.

"Malfoy, shouldn't you be patrolling the corridors?"

The blonde spun round and glared; "Potter, what are you doing out, again?"

"I came to talk to you, actually."

Malfoy edge closer to Harry, eyeing him suspiciously; "why?"

"I know, about you."

Malfoy shrugged; "know what? I'm not playing guessing games with you, Potter."

Harry sighed; "I know, that... I know why, Parkinson doesn't, do it, for you."

"What are you talking about? She's disgusting!"

"And female?"

Malfoy's eyes narrowed; "what ARE you talking about?"

Harry sighed exasperatedly; "I know you're fucking gay, Malfoy!"

"How dare-"

"-And don't try and deny it! I have proof!"

Harry pulled the letters out of his pocket and threw them over to the confused blonde. Malfoy picked one off the floor and scanned it quickly.

"Where did you get this?"

"I'm Boris."

The Slytherin looked even more confused, with a hint of anger; "what?"

"I got your letter to Aleks last month, I've been pretending to be them ever since."

"Why?"

Harry shrugged; "I needed someone to talk to."

"Why not your little friends?"

"Because, they wouldn't understand?"

"Understand what?"

Draco was too confused to be angry.

"Did you even read the letters?"

"Yes!"

"Well, think!"

Draco looked around the room whilst trying to remember what he's been talking to Boris about. It suddenly hit him, almost as violently as being punched in the face.

"You're...?"

Harry nodded; "everything I wrote was from me, just a different name... Otherwise, don't you think I'd have told everyone?"

"So all this time, you've been playing me around?"

Harry sighed; "I suppose, technically, but come on, I gave you amazing hints, told you flat out I might be gay in letters, and you still didn't realise! Are you actually just stupid?"

Draco was beginning to get annoyed now; "oh I'm sorry Potter! I'm already confused, then you go and layer on even more confusion and expect me to come to that conclusion? I thought I was going insane!"

Harry couldn't help but smile; "sorry Draco, but it was pretty obvious. I said I'd let you kiss me."

"Again Potter, I thought I was going insane!"

"Well... Anyway..."

"What? You think this changes things?"

Harry shrugged; "well-"

"-Don't even think about it! I still hate you, actually I hate you more!"

"Why? Clearly you can trust me! I've kept your secret for over a month!"

"I don't care! Get lost before I tell someone you're out of bed!"

Harry sighed but did as he was told; understanding Draco probably needed time. He grabbed his map and cloak from behind the pillar and shuffled off to the Gryffindor common room.

Draco rubbed his forehead and looked down at the floor, where the letters Harry had bought were lying. He gathered them up and flipped through them. He was so angry he was shaking.

"Stupid Potter..."

He screwed up the letters and slid down to the floor, dropping the ball of paper in front of him. He couldn't get his head round the fact that all this time he'd been writing to Potter, of all people. And now he knew his secret... But he hadn't told anyone. Draco pulled his wand out and muttered "incendio", pointing at the letters. They went up in flames, destroying any evidence of Draco's sexuality. But what was he going to do now?

* * *

><p>Harry woke up to Ron punching him in the arm.<p>

"Come on, it's Hogsmeade today!"

Harry pulled himself up, groaning and looked around. He'd been too focused on Malfoy to remember the Hogsmeade trip. He rolled out of bed and stretched. Ron was already dressed.

"Hurry up, or you're going to miss breakfast."

"What time is it?"

"Quarter to ten."

Harry nodded and stumbled around the room, getting ready. They were all finally on their way to Hogsmeade; Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Hermione was listing all the errands she needed to run, things she needed to buy; Ron and Harry were in their own worlds. Ron had quiddich on his mind, Harry had Malfoy. He was thinking about how to get him on his own again, perhaps talk some sense into him.

"We'll meet you in the pub, I can't be bothered walking around today," Ron said, grabbing Harry's arm. Hermione sighed and walked off. Harry looked at Ron confoundedly, having not paid attention to anything his friends had said since they left the grounds.

"Come on."

Ron dragged Harry over to the Three Broomsticks, muttering things about Hermione. Harry volunteered to get the drinks, knowing Ron didn't have enough money to spare on rounds of drinks. They both sat at a table in an awkward silence, neither having much to tell the other. Ron sat playing with a coaster, sighing occasionally. Harry tried to force any thoughts of Malfoy from his mind and think up a topic of conversation.

"So... Quiddich try-outs next Friday," he finally said. Ron looked up.

"Um, yeah... Can you make me Keeper?"

"Um, no. You need to try out... And it won't really be fair having a team of Weasleys."

Ron smirked; "why not? We're clearly the greatest Quiddich family, ever!"

Harry managed a smile; "it's just not fair, Ron. Give other people a go, yeah?"

"Fine, but don't come crying to us when you lose! We'll create our own team!"

Harry laughed; "just the four of you? Off you go then."

"Well..."

The two friends laughed and managed to keep up the conversation; it being the longest conversation Harry had had in a while. Hermione joined them eventually, carrying several bags, mainly full of school supplies. She got her butterbeer and sat opposite Harry, smiling.

"Hello boys, what're we talking about?"

"Divination homework," Ron replied, sliding his hand underneath the handle of his mug.

"Oh yes, you're still taking that joke of a lesson."

Harry smirked; "still hating on Trelawney?"

"She's a fraud! And that is not a lesson! It's a load of..."

Harry and Ron leant closer, waiting to see if Hermione would finally swear.

"...Rubbish!"

Ron sighed and picked up his drink. Harry smirked to himself and looked around the pub; it had slowly begun to fill up.

"Oops, nature calls," Harry said, standing up. Ron laughed at Hermione, who cringed at Harry's mention of needing the toilet.

"Seriously Hermione?"

"He doesn't need to announce it to the world!"

Harry laughed and wandered off to the bathroom, the sounds of Hermione and Ron arguing fading into the background noise. He was washing his hands very meticulously when his blonde adversary walked in. Upon seeing Harry was in the bathroom, Malfoy spun round and left. Harry, shocked by how quickly it had just happened, stared at the door, not understanding. Malfoy was clearly avoiding him. He quickly dried his hands and left, looking out for Malfoy as he went to sit with his friends. He couldn't be seen. He sat down and looked into his drink.

"What happened? We saw Malfoy go in and out of the bathroom," Ron asked. Harry shrugged.

"I have no idea, it happened so quickly."

Hermione eyed him suspiciously; "is something going on with you two?"

Both Harry and Ron looked back at her confoundedly.

"Really Hermione? Harry, and that ferret?"

Harry nodded; "exactly! You forget it's Malfoy."

Hermione rolled her eyes; "I was only asking. And you are acting suspicious!"

"Well, I do have a difficult life... I might go back to Hogwarts, I have some homework to finish."

He finished his drink and got up. As he reached the door he heard Ron scold Hermione for driving Harry away, again. He felt bad for being the cause of their arguments, but he didn't want to be around anyone until he'd figured things out. He shoved his hands in his pockets and began the walk back to Hogwarts.

* * *

><p>Draco kicked stones in front of him as he wandered towards the shrieking shack, having left his friends in the Three Broomsticks. Potter seemed to be taunting him, being everywhere he was, being the subject of his dreams, and generally being the only thing he could thing about, despite being the one person he hated most in the world. But Draco was beginning to doubt if his hatred of Potter had any real substance. Was it because he was Harry Potter, mudblood-lover and enemy of the cause, or because he was Harry Potter, the boy he wanted but couldn't have? Draco wished it was the first. And after the stunt Potter had pulled, he felt he had more basis to hate him than before, but he'd had a point. Potter could have gone public with Draco's secret, but instead he kept it to himself, and actually trusted him with his own secret. However, being gay was one thing, but being gay with Harry Potter was a whole new level of unacceptable. And with this increasing feeling of forbidden love, Draco felt more compelled to take the chance.<p>

* * *

><p>That evening, Harry decided to join his friends in the common room instead of being anti-social. However, he found the conversation didn't interest him. On one side, he had his male friends discussing Quiddich, and on the other his female friends discussing school and work. He sat in the middle, wishing he actually had homework to do, even though he'd used that excuse once today. He sighed loudly and slumped back his seat, wishing someone would notice and try to entertain him. No one did.<p>

"I'm off to bed," he said, getting up and stretching.

"But it's only nine!" Ron argued. Harry shrugged.

"Yeah, but you're all boring me tonight."

"Well sorry."

Ignoring all the odd looks he was getting, Harry shuffled up to bed. He grabbed his map and crawled into bed, planning to spend his evening stalking Malfoy's every move.

* * *

><p>For several days, Draco avoided Potter as much he could in a desperate bid to get him off his mind, only seeing him in lessons and in the Great Hall over meal times. However, it didn't particularly work. He did manage to think about other things, but everything in between were thoughts of the raven-haired Gryffindor. Draco slumped down in his armchair, sighing. Blaise glanced up.<p>

"Something wrong Malfoy?"

Draco sneered; "none of your business."

"All right, was only asking."

"You're always trying to get in my business, all of you! Just leave me alone!"

He jumped up out of his chair and stormed out of the Slytherin common room. He'd been quite snappy for a while, everything anyone did annoyed him, whether it was talking to him, or just breathing. He strolled slowly up the corridors, musing to himself about how nice it'd be to have the castle to himself for just one day. He made his way up through the corridors to the stairs of the astronomy tower, beginning the steep ascent to one of the highest points at Hogwarts.

At the same time, Harry was growing sick of his friends. He grabbed his map and went off for a walk. He wandered through the labyrinth of corridors that was Hogwarts, before checking his map. Malfoy was in the astronomy tower. Harry thought it was about time he go and speak to him, it had been several days since their last real encounter, and he was curious how the Slytherin was doing. He hurried up the corridors, sprinting up the stairs, stopping when he got near the top, mainly to catch his breath, but also to creep up the rest. He sat on a step for a few moments to get his breath, before quietly creeping up the rest of the stairs, hoping to go unnoticed. When he got to the top, he saw Malfoy leaning on the railing, staring out across the grounds. His pullover and tie were in a small heap by the wall; his hair flickered in the wind, and his loose school shirt ruffled. Harry couldn't suppress the smile that spread across his face. He pulled his own jumper off and wrapped it around his map, before making himself known. He cleared his throat, Malfoy spun round, his eyes narrowed.

"What do you want, Potter?"

Harry shrugged and dropped his jumper on the floor; "to talk."

Malfoy watched him suspiciously; "what about?"

"Anything, what's on your mind?"

Harry expected a quick snipe, being told where to go, and was surprised when Malfoy shrugged.

"Fine."

Harry's eyes widened; "really?"

"Well, seeing as you're my 'pen pal'... I have no one else to talk to."

"Right, yeah..."

Harry leant on the wall and slid down, watching Malfoy, noticing in particular the top few buttons of his shirt undone. Eventually, Draco sat down, on the other side of the room.

"So... How have you been?"

Draco sniggered; "really? That's your opening line?"

Harry smirked idiotically; "sorry, but really."

Draco shrugged; "fine... Giving up pretending you don't exist, seeing as you're everywhere!"

"Sorry. Have you stopped hating me?"

"...I never hated you." Draco looked down at his feet; "I was just angry."

Harry nodded; "understandably."

"...So, 'Boris' said he liked someone, who acted a lot like me... Were you...?"

"...Yes. I was talking about you."

"So you..."

"...Yes."

Draco nodded and continued looking at his feet.

"Pretty weird, huh?"

"...Yes."

Harry glanced down at his feet before looking back up at Draco. He was rolling his shoelace between his fingers, refusing to look up.

"Is it really so awkward?"

Draco looked up; "a bit... So, you're definitely gay?"

Harry shrugged; "pretty much."

"Do your little friends know?"

"No."

"Really? You still haven't told them?"

"I don't know how to really... They've only just figured out I don't like Cho..."

"Seriously? I figured that out a while ago."

Harry smiled; "I know, you mentioned."

Draco managed a smirk; "so... how long have you liked me?"

"Um... Properly, a couple of letters in? But I had a feeling about it a while before."

Draco nodded; "all right..."

It went silent, the two boys began fiddling with anything within reach, trying to avoid the awkward atmosphere which had engulfed them. Draco stood up and went to lean on the railings again; Harry smiled and paused for a few moments before pulling himself to his feet and joining the blonde.

"As much as I hate this place, it's still beautiful," Draco sighed, not even casting Harry a quick glance. Harry smiled.

"It is... And we have good memories... Remember the duelling club?"

Draco smirked; "yeah... Still talk to snakes?"

"I do... Have you learnt to never insult a Hippogriff?"

"That beast was savage!"

"No it wasn't, you're just an idiot."

Draco scowled; "you'd be saying the same thing if it had attacked you."

"Yeah, well I listened to the teacher."

Draco was ready to reply with an insult about Hagrid, but held his tongue, knowing insulting Harry's friends wasn't the best way to get on his good side.

"Well, nothing bad ever happens to you."

He instantly hid his face in his hand, realising what he'd just said. Harry just laughed.

"No Draco, my life is peachy. No dark wizards trying to kill me or anything."

Draco smiled foolishly; "you know what I meant, I meant here, at Hogwarts, where everyone's out to watch your back."

Harry smiled back; "yeah, I know..."

They looked into each other's eyes for a few moments, before looking away and grinning foolishly to themselves.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yes, I am just dragging this out. I want it to be different to most Drarry stories, where they usually get together in the first chapter and are having sex at least once every chapter. So, I hope you enjoy, and the more feedback I get, the more I'll write. (:<strong>


	7. What's Happening?

**AN: check this out! A sodding update! liek OMGZZ! (Apologies, I'll be professional now...)**

* * *

><p>Harry and Draco were lay, side by side staring up at the ceiling, not saying a word to each other. Harry sighed happily.<p>

"We should stay here tonight."

Draco laughed; "well that's not happening! I'm prefect! I have stuff to do."

"So come back after."

Draco sighed and shrugged. Harry slid his hand to the right, finding Draco's hand. He entwined their fingers together, getting a fluttering feeling in his stomach. Draco's fingers curled around Harry's.

"I might," he eventually said. Harry smiled and gave Draco's hand a gentle squeeze. Neither had said anything to each other, but it seemed to be the consensus that this was the end of their rivalry, and the beginning of them, not as boyfriends, but certainly more than just friends.

"You know, you're a lot nicer when we're not fighting. You're usually a complete git."

Draco smirked; "and you're not? I'm actually a nice guy when you get to know me."

"Well, therein lies our problem."

"Exactly..."

They both sighed and played with each others' fingers; there was time for getting to know one another later. The silence was comfortable; the two boys didn't feel they had anything to say to one another, and were enjoying the inconsequential contact. If the chemistry between them was this strong with them just holding hands, what would it be like if they kissed? Or even went all the way? The same thought dawned on both of them; they both turned their heads to each other and looked into each others' eyes. Harry could feel his stomach doing flips; the incandescent orange/pink hue from the sunset outside lit up the room, turning the two of them a weird shade of pink. Draco suddenly let go of Harry's hand. He pulled himself up from the floor and went over to the railings, leaning on them, admiring the sunset. Harry pulled himself up, admiring the Slytherin's silhouette. He felt a sudden wave of confidence sweep over him, enough to make him sneak up behind Draco and slip his arms round his waist. Draco smiled and shuffled about, so he was more comfortable in the Gryffindor's arms. He rest his head back on his shoulder, all the while his intestines were tying themselves in knots, his body was tingling all over, and he was trying very hard to not shake. Harry rest his head on Draco's shoulder, feeling the same sensations. Draco's distinctive scent rushed up Harry's nostrils, making him smirk.

"You smell nice," he muttered. Draco laughed.

"Thank you... You smell like... Soap."

Harry smiled; "I shower daily."

"So do I..."

"Well, I don't have aftershave."

"You should get some."

"From where?"

Draco shrugged and looked up at Harry's face; "I don't know..."

Harry looked down at Draco and smiled.

"...You know, I should be going. I have things to do."

Harry frowned; "will you come back?"

Draco turned around and smirked; "you sound desperate, Potter."

Harry scowled; "sod off."

Draco laughed; "aww."

He wrapped his arms round his new lover's neck and pulled him into a warm hug. Startled at first, Harry sunk into it, burying his face into the blonde's neck. Once again, his insides felt funny. He;d never felt like this, and in the past hour there was more activity inside him than there'd ever been. Draco eventually pulled away.

"I'll be back, don't worry."

He wandered over to his things and picked them up, Harry watched him longingly.

"Bring some food?"

Draco chuckled; "I'll see what I can do."

"...Actually, I know one of the house elves, I'll sort it."

"Ok... And if I don't come back, have this."

Before Harry could so much as blink, Draco's lips were on his, in a soft but forceful kiss. Before he could react, they were gone. Draco backed away, smirking, leaving Harry rooted to the spot.

"I'll see you later."

He slunk off down the stairs, Harry was still stood by the railings, finding it hard to do anything with so much electricity rushing through his body. Finally, he was able to move without his body hurting; he slumped down against the wall, next to his pullover and sighed, knowing it would be at least two to three hours before Draco returned. This hadn't turned out to be such a good idea after all. He shuffled closer to the railing so he could see the sunset more clearly. He was in a sentimental mood, overjoyed Draco had actually kissed him, he wasn't even expecting him to agree to his company. But it had happened so quick, he was beginning to doubt it had happened. Lying down, he sighed, trying to remember how nice it had felt, how his insides had felt as it happened, and how it had rooted him to the spot. He closed his eyes, trying to picture it; one minute Draco was stood looking at him, with those sparkling grey eyes, and the next his nose was brushing against his, eyes closed, next to no space between them.

A loud squawking jerked Harry awake, scaring him half to death. He sat up, clutching his chest and breathing heavily. It was dawn, the sun had just made it past the horizon, a couple of crows were perched on the railing, still squawking. Harry sighed and pulled himself to his feet. Draco hadn't come back, Harry frowned and reached up to the ceiling, waiting to hear the click of his spine setting itself back in it's right place. Despite it being a school-day, he had a free period this morning, so ran no risk of missing lesson. He grabbed his pullover and tie, tutting when the marauders map fell on the floor, having forgotten it was there, and made his way down the stairs. When he got the common room he discovered it was earlier than he'd first thought. Only the "early birds" were up, which consisted of a couple of first years, the head boy, two second years, and unfortunately, Hermione.

"Harry! Where have you been?"

Harry scratched his neck awkwardly; "no where, really. Well, no where important."

"You haven't been back all night! Ron and I got back from duties and you weren't in bed, we went out looking for you!"

"I was up in the astronomy tower, I fell asleep."

Hermione flung her arms round him; "you're such an idiot Harry!"

He smiled meekly; "yeah, I know..."

"Now go and get ready!"

Harry sighed and shuffled off, mumbling to himself. Up in his dorm, his friends were just waking up; sat up in their beds, stretching, yawning and rubbing their eyes.

"Harry! Where've you been?" Neville asked. Ron shot to attention.

"Harry! Mate! What happened?"

Harry sighed and sat on his bed; "fell asleep in the astronomy tower."

"What were you doing up there?"

"Being alone..."

Ron nodded and looked down at his bed. Harry stood up and decided to get use of the bathroom before anyone else.

After getting ready, he and his two friends went to the Great Hall for breakfast. As he sat himself down, he looked up and down the Hall, but Draco was nowhere to be seen.

"Are you all right, Harry?" Hermione asked. Harry shrugged.

"I'm just, working through some things."

"Is it... Voldemort?"

Harry smirked; "I wish."

Hermione, Ron and Ginny looked at him suspiciously.

"You wish it was, you-know-who? What is wrong with you?" Ron asked.

"Just leave it, I'll tell you when I can."

Hermione reached over and held his wrist; "you can tell us anything, you know."

"I know, it's just, not the right time."

Hermione sighed; "ok."

She glanced up at Ron, and shared with him a concerned look. Harry ignored them, knowing once they parted they'd start gossiping. He dropped a couple of pieces of toast onto his plate and debated between which warm drink to treat himself to. Fortunately, enough people eventually turned up so a conversation could be had without him. He sat peeling the crust off his toast, stirring his tea so fast it created a small whirlpool in the middle of the cup, then suddenly stirring in the opposite direction, creating a small puddle of tea around the bottom of the cup. After he'd finished playing with his food, he played with a spoon lying on the table next to him. Hermione occasionally glanced over at Harry, tutting and rolling her eyes. Her two best friends were immature boys, one shoved food down his throat without swallowing or taking a break to breath, the other played with his food like a toddler. Harry noticed Hermione's eye-rolling and put his spoon down, resting his hands in his lap. He looked around the Hall once more for Draco, being unable to find him. Sighing, he got up.

"I'm going back to the common room, have fun in, whatever lessons you have."

Ron and Hermione said nothing, and just watched him walk out of the Hall. He scuffed his shoes on the stone as he wandered up the corridor, musing to himself about whether Draco was being genuine the previous night. Despite the loud noises echoing down the corridor from the Hall, Harry heard a quiet whispering.

"Psst! Potter!"

Harry spun round and looked for the source. He noticed a mess of blonde hair and a pair of grey eyes peering round the corner of a deep alcove. He looked up and down the corridor, to check no one was around, before joining the blonde in the alcove.

"Malfoy! Where were you last night?"

Draco shrugged; "sorry, Snape made me go back to bed."

"Why couldn't you have come after?"

Draco shrugged again, not saying anything. Harry sighed.

"Well, thanks, you know, for leaving me up there."

A smirk spread across Draco's face; "sorry, dear."

Harry scowled, not in the mood for Draco's sarcasm. Draco, however, was thoroughly amused. He lifted his hand to Harry's face and silpped a lock of his hair behind his ear. Harry's cheek tingled at Draco's touch, making him shiver, causing Draco's smirk to increase in size.

"I'll try to make it up to you..."

Harry couldn't suppress the grin that spread across his face; "how?"

Draco shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged; "I'll think of something, see you round..."

He winked and walked off quite quickly. Harry stuck his head round the corner of the alcove to watch him walk away until he turned a corner. Falling back on the wall, he sighed happily; murmuring "wow". After his heart-rate had gone back to normal, he carried on to the common room.

Draco sauntered into the Great Hall, now feeling much more confident than he had in a long while. As he walked down the centre of the Hall, between the Gryffindor and Slytherin table, Neville Longbottom was walking in the opposite direction, carrying a book and a glass of pumpkin juice. Draco smirked, knowing there was an "accident" waiting to happen. There was plenty of space for the two to go around each other with no hassle, but as they got within reach of each other, Draco made sure he thrust his shoulder into Neville's, making him stumble and spill his juice all over his book. He glanced back over his shoulder, smirking and watching Longbottom stumble into the table, hitting his knee on the bench and falling over. The surrounding Gryffindors jumped up to help him; the surrounding Slytherins stopped what they were doing to point and laugh. Draco slid in between Crabbe and Goyle, ignoring the grins from his friends.

"Nice one Draco," Blaise smirked. Draco nodded, waving his hand as if it was nothing.

"In a better mood now then? You haven't bullied the Gryffindors for ages," Flint said, in between shoving slices of toast into his mouth. Draco shrugged.

"There's more to life than bullying stupid Gryffindors, not matter how fun and satisfying it is."

Pansy Parkinson screwed her face up; "you've changed Draco. You're nothing like you used to be."

"...Whatever."

"But-"

"-Seriously Pansy, just leave me, alone!"

Pansy scoffed and stormed out of the Hall. Draco ignored the odd looks he was getting and tried to eat his breakfast in peace.

That evening, Harry and Ron were walking to the library to get help with their Potions essay from Hermione.

"He's been at it all day, taking little cheap shots at us. This morning he shoved Neville into the table, spilling juice all over his work."

Harry frowned; "after so long? He suddenly starts again?"

Ron nodded; "something's up with Malfoy. At least it's only little things. He called me ginger earlier, yeah, like I haven't noticed!"

Harry managed a smile; "he's an idiot."

"Ginger, loser, Irish! Guess who he called Irish!"

"Really? Just, Irish?"

"Yep, I think he's losing his edge..."

Harry wondered to himself why Draco was taking small shots at his friends all of a sudden, even if they were pathetic. As they turned the corner to go into the library they bumped into Malfoy, literally.

"Watch where you're walking, scarhead."

Harry rolled his eyes, desperately wanting to think of a comeback but unable to think up one just as childish. He and Ron went into the library to see Hermione scowling, her papers and books all over the place.

"You all right Hermione?" Ron asked.

"No! That sodding Malfoy just messed everything up!"

The two boys helped Hermione sort her things out and three got to work.

Draco shuffled through the corridors, musing to himself. He didn't want the Gryffindors to think he'd gone soft, and wanted to keep Harry on his toes. There was no way he was going to be won over that easily. He wanted to test him, to see if he truely wanted Draco for who he was - which included being slightly childish at times, bullying his friends. He could have been much more insulting, he could have even started a fight, but calling Weasley ginger and knocking Longbottom over was enough to not start a fight, but to basically, keep Potter on his toes. He thought about writing him another letter, being mean to him in person, and then keeping him sweet with letters. He couldn't just have a boyfriend/girlfriend, he had to mess them about to see how dedicated they are. And he wasn't really messing them about, he was just playing with their heads, treating them mean and then stopping them walking with unbelievable acts of sweetness. Draco grinned, having it all planned out.

That evening, Harry was lounging in the armchair by the fire whilst his friends chatted around him.

"All ready for Quiddich try-outs?" Ginny asked, sitting in the chair closest to him. Harry smiled meekly.

"Not at all. It's going to be hard. There's no way I can keep your brothers off the team, and then I could be accused of favouritism or something by everyone who wasn't picked... It's a load of shite."

Ginny laughed; "don't worry, we'll put 'em straight."

"I just hope no one actually accuses me of anything."

"Of course they will. People will be jealous they're not on the team and will say you didn't pick them because you prefer people who did get on the team, despite the fact they're better at Quiddich."

Harry nodded; "I hate... Everything."

Ginny smiled; "teenage angst."

Harry smiled too; "shouldn't you be full of angst? Being a teenage girl and all..."

Hermione overheard this and laughed along with Ginny.

"You really don't understand girls, do you."

Harry shrugged; "I don't really understand boys if I'm honest..."

"Harry, there's a letter for you."

Dean had just walked into the common room, holding a letter up in the air. Hermione reached it first and analysed the front.

"It's actually addressed to you, for once."

Harry snatched it off her before she opened it and analysed the front too.

"Same handwriting too, finally told him who you were?"

Harry shrugged; "something like that. What makes you think it's a boy I'm talking to anyway?"

Hermione shrugged; "just using 'him' as a general pronoun, I wasn't being gender-specific."

Harry rolled his eyes; "you always have an explanation, don't you."

"You could have had a rebuttal for what I said, but-"

"-I don't care Hermione. I'm going to read my letter in peace."

Hermione pulled a face at Harry as he hurried up to his dorm. He bounced onto his bed and tore the envelope open, eager to see what Draco had to say.

_Potter  
>Last night was quite nice, I daren't say we do it again some time. Apologies for not coming back, I did want to. As for making it up to you, do you have anything in mind? Within reason of course... Meet me after your Quiddich try-outs by the Black Lake.<em>  
><em>Malfoy x<em>

Harry growled and shook the letter; "why do you call me Potter?"

He put the letter down on his lap and looked up at the ceiling, wondering if he should write back or wait until tomorrow. There was a knock at the door and Neville poked his head round.

"Harry, um, Ron wants to speak to you."

Harry nodded, shoved the letter in his pocket and went down to the common room.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Also, thank you for all the kind words in reviews, and thank you to everyone who favourited and added this story to their alerts. Much love! xx<strong>


	8. Awkward Beginnings

Harry glanced round the common room and looked for Ron, he was sat at a desk, looking over a thick book. He shuffled over and slunk down in the chair next to Ron's.

"You want to speak to me?"

Ron nodded and looked up at Harry, exasperatedly; "try-outs tomorrow! I'm absolutely, crapping myself."

Harry smiled, worried it was something serious; "don't worry! You're good at Quidditch."

"But, but people are better than me!"

"Seriously Ron, you'll be fine. Just, play the best you can, ignore everything around you, and you'll be great, you might even get on the team."

"But-"

Harry waved his hand; "no more on this Ron, you'll be great, if you don't get onto the team, you'll at least be a sub, I guarantee it!"

Ron smirked foolishly; "all right, and if I don't get onto the team, I'll just assume it's because there's too many Weasleys and you don't want to be accused of favouritism."

Harry grinned; "that's exactly it... Anyway, I've got to-"

Ron grabbed Harry's arm; "look mate, I know you've got a lot going on, and there's something else going on you don't want to talk about, and, I respect that and stuff, but, don't skulk about upstairs, you know, we're here for you, even if you don't want to talk."

Harry sighed and looked down at Ron, before glancing round the common room at all his friends. He shrugged and waited for Ron to go over to the sofas before following. Everyone smiled at him; Neville moved over so there was space for Harry to sit.

"So, is anyone here not trying out for Quidditch tomorrow?" Harry asked. Hermione meekly raised her hand slightly.

"It's a brutish sport."

Ron laughed; "what she means is she's not very good on a broom."

Hermione scowled; "I'm very decent on a broom, actually, Ronald, I just prefer spectating."

"But really Hermione, it's an excellent sport! There's all the adrenaline, feeling the wind in your hair, sportsmanship-"

"-Sportsmanship? There's no such thing! Especially where Slytherin are concerned."

Ginny sighed, her attempt at changing Hermione's mind had failed. Now it was Dean's turn.

"That's because the Slytherins are a bunch of cheating gits. We're fine with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff."

Hermione shook her head; "you're all as bad as each other. I'll admit the Slytherins play dirty, but they bring it out in you, and you're no better."

Dean shrugged and looked at Harry, as if passing the baton to him. Harry shook his head.

"You don't have to play Hermione, actually, it makes it easier, it's another friend I don't have to choose between."

"How are you going to choose, may I ask?"

Harry shrugged; "just, rate everyone on a scale of one to ten and pick the best, I suppose."

"I hope everyone's mature enough to accept your decision."

Everyone around nodded. The conversation carried on until everyone got tired; and throughout Harry hadn't once thought about Draco, which was surprising to him when he found the letter from earlier under his pillow.

The next day, Harry found Quidditch try-outs not as difficult as he'd thought. Some people were obviously better than others. The only difficult part was choosing between Keepers. Ron was good, but so were others trying out.

"I'll post the results in the common room on... Monday, nice going guys!" Harry shouted, noticing a blonde boy walking down the hill by the pitch, heading towards the forest. Everyone wandered towards the changing rooms, Harry followed. After showering and getting changed, Harry managed to shake off his friends, insisting he was off to think about things, and hurried off towards the forest. He found Draco sat by the lake, wearing a casual suit. Harry smirked and walked over. Draco looked up and smirked too.

"Get my note then?"

Harry shrugged; "might have..."

Draco shuffled, Harry sat down awkwardly. Draco cleared his throat.

"So, um, how were try-outs?"

Harry fidgeted; "not that bad really... It's just going to be difficult picking people."

Draco nodded; "I suppose it would be..."

"Still seeker?"

"Yeah..."

Harry nodded and looked out at the lake, he hadn't anticipated it being this awkward with Draco. Draco was feeling awkward too, he hadn't planned this far ahead.

"So, who are you thinking about putting on the team?"

Harry managed a smile; "I'm not going to tell you, am I, you'll go tell Flint."

Draco smiled too; "I promise I won't... Is Weasley any good?"

"Which one? There's four!"

Draco chuckled; "your one."

"Ron? He's pretty good actually, but I don't want to stick him on the team in case people think I'm biased... Fred and George are definitely staying, Ginny's really good... I don't know..."

"Well, are the other keepers better than him?"

Harry shrugged; "not really, they're all pretty much the same in terms of skill..."

"But...?"

"...I don't know. I'd really like Ron to be on the team, but he cracks under pressure, really badly..."

Draco shrugged; "why not make some sort of rota? Have one play one match, one play another... I don't know... Or have practice games to see who's really better..."

Harry nodded; "that could work..."

"...I'm thinking about dropping out of Quidditch, it doesn't interest me that much really, I only joined to piss you off, and it worked for three years..."

Harry smiled; "really? You only joined to annoy me?"

"Well, it was one of the reasons..."

"I'm surprised you haven't resorted to pulling my hair and kicking me when you walk past, you really fancy me don't you!"

Draco scowled and punched Harry's arm; "fuck off."

Harry's grin got bigger; he shuffled closer, putting his hand on Draco's. Draco's scowl slowly turned into a smile.

"You're so gay, Harry."

Harry laughed; "yeah, I know!"

They both leant forward, meeting in a soft kiss. Their smiles got bigger; Draco raised his hand to Harry's cheek, stroking it with his thumb. For their first proper kiss, both thought it was going well, and sank into it, allowing it to progress to a more passionate kiss. Harry pushed forward, Draco pulled away, yanking his hand from under Harry's, rubbing it. Harry looked down at it and grimaced.

"Sorry."

Draco shrugged; "it's all right..."

They both leant towards each other again, Harry cupped Draco's cheek, pulling him closer.

For a while they kissed and giggled like any other teenage couple; pushing and pulling each other, finding out how ticklish they were, and teasing each other.

"So is this it?" Harry finally asked, the two of them were lying side by side, their fingers entwined. Draco shrugged and looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

Harry shrugged too; "I don't know... Meeting in secret, not really doing anything... Are you still going to 'bully' me around school."

Draco smirked; "of course, we can't let people know about this! Besides, it's fun winding you up."

"It's fun winding you up too... You are so easily annoyed."

"...And?"

"Just saying... It's funny."

"It'd be more fun bullying you if your friends didn't jump to your rescue all the time."

"They're just doing what any friend would do."

"Lucky for some, my friends can barely string a coherent sentence together..."

Harry shrugged; "shouldn't have such crappy friends then."

"Yeah, thanks."

Harry smiled and squeezed Draco's hand lovingly. They lay in a comfortable silence, occasionally nudging each other and squeezing their hands.

"It's weird how this isn't very awkward, isn't it?" Draco asked. Harry looked at him.

"What? It's not awkward for you? It's so weird for me! I was never good with girls, and you're no easier!"

"Well, at least we had a previous relationship, albeit a bad one, but still, it counts for something... We know each other, to some extent..."

Harry shrugged; "I suppose... I'll still be a mess though, I'll end up accidentally punching you or something."

Draco laughed; "thanks for the warning."

"...Do you think we should probably go back now?"

"...Probably... I think we've had enough fun for today."

"Fair enough."

"You go on ahead, you know we can't be seen together."

Harry nodded; "right, yeah, um... See you round?"

"Sure, if you're lucky."

Harry smirked; "it seems that way."

Draco cringed; "Dear Merlin, did you say that? Just, go now, Potter, leave!"

Harry laughed; "sorry."

"No, apology not accepted, leave!" Draco laughed. Harry pulled Draco into an involuntary hug; Draco pushed him away, before leaning closer and kissing him softly.

"Now get lost."

Harry smiled and pulled himself up, grabbing his things and walking backwards towards the castle, keeping an eye on Draco, who shook his head at Harry's weird behaviour.

For a couple of weeks the two of them were quite content with how things worked out. In lessons and in and about Hogwarts, Draco and Harry were enemies, hassling each other, giving each other abuse and pushing and shoving each other in the corridors. But outside of lessons, where people weren't around, they were like an average couple. They'd spend the occasional night together in the Astronomy Tower, star-gazing and talking about themselves; and they'd hide out in the forest, kissing passionately and trying to impress each other.

Harry's relationship with his friends gotten better too. They were still suspicious about his behaviour, but decided to leave him alone, hoping he'd tell them in his own time.

After lessons one Friday, Harry, Ron and Hermione went down to Hagrid's for tea. Though at first, Harry was eager to join the conversation, and accepted refills to his cup of tea more than once, he began to get tense.

"He gets like this a lot recently;" Hermione mumbled to Hagrid, nodding at Harry who was sat by the window, craning his neck to see outside.

"Well, he's either like this, or he's not there... It's like he's got something else to do... Well, he does usually, the first chance he gets he leaves..." Ron added.

"Maybe 'e's got a girlfriend or somethin'..." Hagrid suggested, as quietly as possible. The three of them looked up at Harry. He was still craning his neck and his knuckles had gone which from gripping the chair tightly.

"I don't think he'd get a girlfriend and not tell us, me, at least," Ron replied. Hagrid shrugged and poured himself another tea. Hermione's head suddenly snapped up.

"What if it's not a girl..."

Hagrid and Ron both pulled a face.

"You're saying, he's gay?" Ron asked, exasperatedly. Hermione nodded.

"Think about it, there's something up with him but he doesn't want to tell us, 'not yet at least'... He's always running away to some secret place, sometimes sleeping there... He sends mystery letters... And like you said, if he had a girlfriend, he'd have told us..."

Ron shook his head; "no Hermione, you're misreading it or reading into it too much, or something, Harry's not gay! Besides, who'd his boyfriend be?"

Hermione shrugged; "I haven't figured that out yet..."

They all looked up at Harry again. He was literally balancing on the edge of his seat, looking out of the window.

"Harry...?"

Harry jerked about, not expecting his name to be called, and fell off the chair.

"Yes?"

His friends watched in an awkward silence as Harry picked himself up.

"We're just wondering if you were ok, you seem a little, restless," Hermione said. Harry nodded.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine, really, I'm ok... It's just, there's somewhere I need to be..."

Hagrid shared a concerned glance with Ron and Hermione; "well, go if you 'ave to, don't let us keep you, you know..."

Harry nodded; "you're sure it's fine? I'd love to stay, I just forgot to cancel plans, you know..."

Hagrid nodded; "it's fine, off you go."

Harry smiled awkwardly; "um... Thanks... See you later, then."

His friends nodded as he grabbed his things and ran out of Hagrid's hut, through the forest until he got to his usual meeting place. Draco was already there, lying on the grass, staring up into the trees, twirling his wand round his fingers. Harry, panting, slumped down next to him, not even getting a sideways glance from Draco.

"You're late."

Harry nodded, trying to get his breath back; "I know, unplanned tea with Hagrid, went on longer than I expected... Ron and Hermione are still there..."

Draco tutted; "making plans on top of ours? Honestly Potter, how are we supposed to work if you keep doing this?"

Harry smiled when he saw Draco's playful smirk; "it's happened twice... Three times maybe, but come on, I have friends, I can't cancel on them all the time!"

"Why not? I thought you loved me?"

Harry's face flushed bright red, worried he might have confessed his love for Draco and not remembered. They hadn't been together long, and even then it was hardly exclusive, he doubted it was even that serious. He knew he had strong feelings for Draco, but knew he wasn't in love... Draco laughed.

"What's wrong? Having second thoughts about whether you love me or not...?"

Harry shrugged, trying to act casual; "when did I ever say I loved you?"

Draco smirked and propped himself up on his elbows; "why, don't you?"

"Well, do you love me?"

"Are we serious enough for me to love you? You haven't even told your friends!"

"I've been thinking about it, actually," Harry sighed, lying next to Draco. Draco looked at him fervently.

"Really?"

Harry nodded; "well, at least tell them I like boys."

Draco smirked; "boy, not boys, boy, just me."

Harry chuckled; "yes, I like boy."

"That's better."

Draco rolled onto his side, stroked Harry's cheek and leant closer, kissing him softly.


	9. The BreakUp

That evening, an hour after everyone else had gone to bed, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sat by the fire in the common room. It had taken Harry an hour to work up the courage to mention he had a secret. Hermione and Ron were sat on the edge of their seats, waiting for him to make his announcement.

"Come on Harry, you said you were ready..." Hermione coaxed. Harry nodded and fiddled with his fingers, looking around the common room, afraid someone could still be awake.

"We understand if you're not ready still... But no one's here but us, honestly," Ron said, reassuringly.

"Right, um, yeah, so..."

They all shuffled closer, as an extra precaution.

"Well, basically..." Harry started, sighing; "...I think I'm gay... Well no, I don't think I am, I'm 99 percent sure I am... The one percent is doubts of it just being a growing teen thing, but yeah..."

He looked up at Ron and Hermione, wondering what their reactions would be, hoping it'd be positive. Hermione was smiling, Ron looked like he didn't care too much.

"I thought so, told you Ron! I can't believe you were so afraid to tell us Harry! We don't care one bit, you're still you."

Harry glanced at Ron - who nodded - before grimacing; "well, I'm glad you're all happy for me and whatever, but, there's more..."

"You're seeing someone," Hermione asked, though it sounded more like a declaration. Harry nodded.

"Yeah, but, it's not good news really..."

Hermione and Ron shared uneasy glances.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked. Harry took in a deep breath and looked anywhere but in the eyes of his friends.

"This guy I've been seeing, well, it's Malfoy..."

He shut his eyes tightly after hearing the gasps, knowing what was coming.

"M-Malfoy?" Ron demanded. Harry finally looked up, his friends didn't look at all impressed, especially Hermione.

"Really Harry? Out of everyone who could be gay, out of everyone you could have fallen for, you choose Malfoy?"

"I didn't choose, Hermione."

"Like it makes any difference! It's Malfoy! Did you expect us to be okay with this?"

"Well, no, but-"

"-You're gay, I don't care, what ever makes you happy Harry, but not Draco Malfoy. He's vile, possibly one of the worst human beings I've ever met-"

"-He's really not that bad Hermione, he's just, made bad choices, most weren't even his choice, and-"

"-Listen to her mate! Malfoy's not boyfriend material for anyone! Especially you! You're supposed to be enemies for Merlin's sake!" Ron interrupted.

"Said who though, we're supposed to be enemies, but why? My parents were killed by Voldemort, his parents are Voldemort's supporters. He's not, any opinion he has on Voldemort or what ever was put there by his father! Nature vs nurture and all that!"

"So you're defending a boy who regularly called me a mudblood? And who went out of his way to make your friends' lives miserable? Just because his father's as foul as he is?" Hermione asked, getting angrier by the minute.

"Well no, but, I don't know! He's not called you that for ages! And he's only done petty things just for appearances, he even calls you by your names when we talk."

Hermione scoffed; "how wonderful for you! He's only doing that so you'll like him more! Did you stop to think if you weren't friends with us he'd still be treating us like we're not even human?"

"Look Hermione, I get what you're saying, but this goes both ways, he likes me too!"

"No you look Harry, I never thought I'd do this, but I forbid you from seeing him! Break up with him! That is, if you want to keep your friends."

"What? Hermione-"

"-I mean it Harry! Is him or us! Come on Ronald!"

Hermione stood up, grabbed Ron's arm and dragged him over to the staircases, leaving Harry torn in two. He dropped his head in his hands. He didn't expect them to take it well, but he wasn't sure if it could have gone any worse. Sighing, he shuffled about on the chair, getting comfy, planning on sitting out of the night there, mulling over the situation Hermione had lumped him into.

The next morning, Harry hadn't slept at all, and had spent all night throwing balls of paper into the fire and talking to the house elves that came up to clean. Before anyone awoke, he went upstairs to the boys dorm, got washed and changed, and got ready for the day. He went down to the Great Hall, to get a head-start on drinking coffee before lessons. There was next to no one in the Hall, only a couple of teachers and one or two prefects. Looking around the Hall, Harry noticed Snape sat at the teachers table, glaring at the few people that were awake, especially at Harry.

"Shit!"

Harry hurried over to his table and pulled out his Potions homework, before pouring himself a cup of coffee. Luckily, the homework wasn't difficult, but it certainly needed doing, and it was just another thing adding to Harry's stress level, which was already pretty high. He sat working in peace, downing cups of coffee for just under an hour when his friends started joining him.

"What're you doing, Harry?" Dean asked, sitting next to him.

"Potions homework, why do I never do it when I have the time?"

Seamus laughed and poured himself some pumpkin juice; "you and me both Harry, I only did it last night because Dean reminded me."

"You couldn't help me could you? I haven't had any sleep, I'm stressed, I'm sure I'm doing this wrong!"

Dean took the parchment from him and looked over it, whilst Harry had another drink of coffee.

"You've not actually done that bad, only five is wrong."

Harry nodded and took it back, scribbling out his answer and starting again. He finally had it done by the time Hermione and Ron turned up. Hermione went and sat with the girls, glaring at Harry as she slid onto the bench. Ron awkwardly joined Harry, Dean, and Seamus, only mumbling "morning" before helping himself to food. Harry looked down at his empty plate, trying to think of reason to leave. He got up, grabbed his things and went to leave when Ron called him back.

"Where are you going?"

"...Toilet, why?"

Ron looked at him awkwardly; "um, meet me before lesson yeah? I want to talk to you..."

Harry nodded and eyed him suspiciously before leaving the Great Hall. He wandered up and down the corridors, wasting time until ten minutes before Potions. He wandered down to the dungeons to meet Ron. As he got closer tot the Potions classroom, he spotted his friend leaning against the wall, fiddling with the hem of his jumper.

"So, you wanted to talk?" Harry asked, leaning on the wall next to Ron.

"Yeah, uh look. I know you probably think we're being really harsh an' all that, but seriously Harry, you've got to look at it from our point of view... I mean, him, of all people! How?"

Harry shrugged; "I don't know... It started off all sort of, innocent... I just started off fancying him, kind of, then I got a letter from him, though it wasn't actually for me, the owl just got it wrong. He was going through the same problems as me, I wrote back pretending to be someone else, and it turned out he's not actually that bad..."

As Harry was telling his story, Ron shook his head, tutting occasionally. After he finished the tale of how he and Draco became an "item", he looked at Ron expectantly.

"...Still though, Harry. Malfoy, of all people. How do you know it's not some ruse or-"

"-I'm sure there's easier ways of getting to me."

"...Please Harry, just end it. There are important things for you to focus on, with you-know-who, and his dad is a Death Eater! It's only a matter of time until-"

"-No, Ron. He wouldn't! ...Not by choice anyway. He doesn't have much say in what he does."

Ron shrugged; "look, I see it's hard for you, but it's what's best."

Harry sighed; "...Fine."

That evening, Harry arranged to meet Draco in the trophy room. The two of them lounged into front of the fire, side-by-side. Draco occasionally glanced over at Harry, noticing something was up.

"Come on, spit it out," he said, elbowing the Gryffindor. Harry sighed.

"Right, well... I told Ron and Hermione."

"...And?"

"They think we should break up. Well, no, they ordered me to break up with you."

Draco looked at him anxiously; "and, are you?"

Harry shrugged and lay down; "I don't know. I don't want to... But they're my best friends-"

"-They're not very good friends if they'd make you choose between us and them."

"Well, in a way I get where they're coming from, but, they don't understand."

Draco nodded and lay next to him, reaching out to take his hand; "...So... What's going to happen?"

"...I don't know. What should we do?"

Draco sighed and looked up at the ceiling; "this might be the Slytherin coming out in me, but, why don't we pretend to break up?"

"What?"

"You know. You tell Granger and Weasley we've 'broken up', and then just, get together in secret. You know, because that's not what we've been doing anyway."

Harry smiled; "they'd find out eventually."

"No they won't. They wouldn't have figured us out if you hadn't told them... We'll just have to be very discrete!"

"I can't believe you're fighting for this."

Draco smiled; "why wouldn't I? I can't believe you're not."

"Well, I'm torn. Either way I lose... So, I'm just trying to figure out how to please both sides."

"You can't have your cake and eat it."

"But I want to!"

Draco chuckled and leant closer to Harry, resting his head on his shoulder; "just do what I said, it'll work out!"

Harry smiled and and went to kiss Draco's forehead but was interrupted by Draco forcing his lips to his. Before Harry could get drawn in to the kiss, Draco sat up and ran his fingers through his hair.

"We should go somewhere else, people come here you know..."

Harry nodded and pulled himself up; "well, where to?"

"I don't know... Somewhere in the castle, it's too cold to go outside, and I can not be bothered walking all the way up the astronomy tower, the dungeons are bloody freezing..."

Harry smiled, enjoying Draco's little rant about how badly heated the castle was.

"Maybe we should stick to meeting in the day when it's warm... It should get better over Christmas, most people will be going home."

"You're staying?"

Draco nodded; "yes, my parents are awful to be around lately. Mother's overbearing, and father, well, you know about him."

Harry nodded too and squeezed Draco's hand lovingly; "it'll get better."

Draco smiled meekly; "I hope so. If you ever do come head to head with the Dark Lord, please don't kill my father. He's not entirely a bad man..."

"Um, ok?"

Laughing nervously, the Slytherin waved his hand; "ignore me, I'm being stupid. Anyway, should we go? Otherwise your stupid friends might get the wrong idea."

Harry managed a laugh; "when don't they?"

They both helped each other up, embraced and shared a quick kiss before parting ways. On his way back to the common room, Harry planned what to say to Ron, planning on ignoring Hermione completely, for two reasons. Firstly, unlike Ron, she had no compassion for his and Draco's relationship, and secondly, by not talking to her he thought it'd make it seem more realistic that he'd broken up with Draco. He took a deep breath before storming into the common room, going to walk past everyone to the dorms.

"Did you do it?" Ron called out, scrambling to get up from the sofa.

"Yes," Harry replied, monotonously. He could hear Ron and Hermione follow him up the stairs to the dorms.

"How did it go?" Ron asked. Harry turned around and looked at his two friends.

"Oh you know, it was brilliant!"

"It's your fault for getting involved with him, Harry," Hermione said. Harry glared at her. Ron began to feel awkward, her knew Hermione was right, but Harry was his best friend.

"Look, Harry, I know it can't feel, well, great, but, Hermione's kind of right."

Harry shrugged; "well you don't have to worry any more, we're over. You know, even after telling him you ordered us to break up, he still didn't call you names! He was very mature about it, a damn side more than you were, anyway."

Hermione shrugged; "whatever Harry, I know I'm the bad guy in all of this. I only hope you'll be able to see I was right sooner rather than later."

Hermione glanced at Ron before storming out. Harry and Ron stood in an awkward silence for a few moments.

"I'm going to bed," Harry said. Ron nodded and shuffled towards the door before leaving. Harry sighed and flopped down onto his bed, wondering how long it would take for them to realise he was lying.


	10. Something Planned

For the couple of weeks leading up to the Christmas holidays, Draco and Harry managed to sneak around undetected by anyone, having found a room in Hogwarts that no one else knew of and that didn't show up on the Marauders Map. However, Ron and Hermione were very suspicious of Harry's occasional disappearances; despite the fact Harry was known for slipping out in the night, because of his relationship with Draco, they doubted his stories of needing air after a bad dream, or whatever Harry came out with.

Harry sighed and flopped down on the sofa, making sure to miss Draco who was submerged in a Potions book.

"Something wrong, my dear?" Draco asked, sarcasticly. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Not really, just bored."

"Well I'm sorry but this Potions work needs to get done."

"Not now it doesn't!"

Draco put his book down; "I'll help you with yours if you want, unless you want another detention. I'm starting to think you're doing it on purpose, to get Snape to notice you."

Harry narrowed his eyes; "what are you hinting at?"

"I'm hinting at the fact that maybe I'm not the only Slytherin you've got the hots for."

Harry gasped and hit Draco round the head with a cushion; "you are disgusting! Just sick!"

Draco chuckled; "prove me wrong then, do your homework."

Sighing, the Gryffindor shuffled up to his lover and pulled his bag onto his knee; "even Hermione doesn't have tactics like that to get me to work."

"And that's why I'm in Slytherin and she is not."

Harry smirked and pulled his homework out. Their homework was completed quicker than Harry usually managed to, and spent their final hour together being a couple.

"I'll see you round, as usual," Harry said, packing his bag. Draco nodded and leant on the sofa, folding his arms.

"So, next time...?"

"Um..." Harry looked up at Draco and couldn't help but feel queasy - but in the good way. Draco smirked.

"How about next Tuesday?"

Harry nodded, having to sit down before his knees gave way; "Tuesday, um, Tuesday sounds good."

"Good."

Draco knew what effect he had on Harry, and exploited it to it's full extent. He watched Harry pack his things away and sort out his clothes so it didn't look as though he'd been savaged by a sexually frustrated fifteen year old, before going up behind him and wrapping his arms round his waist.

"Till Tuesday then, Scarhead."

Harry sighed and turned to face Draco; "you know, Ron had better not see these love bites on my chest or I'm going to kill you."

"Apologies my dear, I got a bit lost in the moment."

"Yeah, well, don't do it again."

"Don't worry, I have something good planned for Tuesday..."

Harry looked at Draco, wide-eyed; "um, what?"

"You'll see. Anyway, I have duties to attend to, so, I'll see you, tomorrow."

He kissed Harry quickly on the nose before striding out of the room, leaving Harry a little dazed and worried. He quickly gathered his things and rushed out, hoping to make it back to the common room before Ron and Hermione finished their Prefect duties. He managed to get in before them and hurried up to the dorms to make it look like he'd been doing his homework. Hermione and Ron finally got in, and instantly went over to Ginny.

"Well?"

Ginny nodded; "only got back about five minutes ago."

Hermione sighed; "I think it's time for another intervention."

"Let's just leave it for a while longer, he could have just been having a walk or something."

Hermione glared at Ron and went up to the boys' dorm, to find him doing homework.

"I heard you've only just gotten back," she said, leaning on the bedpost. Harry looked up and shrugged.

"Went on a walk and did my Potions homework."

"Are you sure? Maybe you were with Draco!"

"Yeah, sure. I've told you a million times Hermione, it's over between Draco and I! And even if for some reason we were still seeing each other behind your back, you think we'd spend what little time we have doing Potions homework?"

Ron sighed; "told you Hermione, just, leave him."

Hermione sighed angrily and stormed out. Ron looked at Harry and smiled meekly before going back down to the common room. Harry smirked and put all his things away, deciding an early night was in order.

The next day in Potions, Snape was in another bad mood. He made the class sit in silence as he marked the homework.

"Malfoy! Come here please!"

Draco looked up and slowly made his way to Snape's desk; "...Sir?"

Snape was clutching Draco's essay; "I've just looked over your homework, it's very similar to someone elses."

"...Oh?"

"Now why is your essay nearly word for word like Potter's?"

"Potter? Harry Potter? I have no idea!"

Snape glared; "you have five seconds to explain yourself or you'll both find yourselves in detention, and I'll be writing to your parents!"

Draco felt his pulse quicken, he had less than five seconds to come up with a decent lie; "um, I honestly don't know sir! Although, no, I left my essay in the library by accident! He may have found it and copied it!"

Snape looked at Draco analytically; Draco felt even more anxious, it was as if Snape could read his mind and knew he was lying. He definitely didn't expect him to buy his lie - but he did.

"Very well... Potter! Detention, tonight!"

Harry looked up and groaned; "why?"

"I think you know why!"

Harry looked at Draco, who shrugged apologetically before going back to his seat. Harry sighed and got on with his work. Hermione meanwhile tried to catch Ron's attention, before slipping him a note.

"Told you there was something going on."

Ron sighed and screwed it up, refusing to admit Harry would still be seeing Draco behind his back.

After class, Harry met Draco in the bathroom before going to their other lessons.

"What happened?"

Draco sighed; "sorry, I had to say something, he asked why our essays were pretty much the same."

"Oh, all right then?"

"You're not pissed off?"

Harry smirked; "a little, I'll get you back Tuesday."

Draco smirked too; "sure you will, anyway, I've got to get to Transfiguration."

He gave Harry's arm a squeeze before rushing out. Harry stood in front of the sink, holding his hands under the fauwcett for a few minutes before strolling out of the bathroom. As he guessed, Ron was waiting for him.

"You took your time."

Harry shrugged; "yeah, well..."

"Malfoy was in there too, did you-"

"-I was on the toilet, Ron, I don't know who came in and out!"

Ron shrugged; "all right-"

"-Hermione's getting to you."

"Sorry."

Harry smiled and nudged him; "come on, let's get to History of Magic, I could do with a nap."

After several days of accusations from Hermione and a detention with Snape, Tuesday came around. After Hermione and Ron left on their duties, Harry pulled the cloak over his head and and left for the seventh floor to meet Draco. Today, the room seemed cosier than usual; either the room was smaller or the furniture was bigger. The sofa was definitely bigger, Draco was lay on it with at least a foot or two extra space for Harry to sit down; normally Draco couldn't lie down without Harry sitting on his feet.

"Well, this is, cosy," Harry announced, dropping his things next to the coffee table. Draco propped himself up on his elbows and smirked.

"Told you I had something good planned."

Harry smiled and sat on the sofa. Draco turned himself around and rest his head on the arm of the sofa on Harry's side, lying over Harry's legs.

"So was this all you had planned?"

"Maybe. Maybe not..."

"I suppose I'll find out, right?"

The blonde nodded and took the other boys' hand ins his, squeezing it softly. They sat in a content silence for a while, Harry occasionally ran his hand through Draco's hair; Draco would occasionally sit up properly and give Harry a quick kiss - nothing that could possibly lead to something more. Draco suddenly sighed happily, Harry looked down at him quizzically.

"Something up?"

"No... This is nice isn't it? We should do this more often!"

Harry smiled; "what, nothing?"

"...Yeah."

Draco sat up on Harry's lap, a shy smile tugging at his lips.

"I like doing nothing with you," Harry confessed. The Slytherin pushed Harry's hair back and looked over his face before taking his glasses and putting them down on the table. They didn't say a word to each other when Harry pulled Draco into a deep kiss, or when Draco undid Harry's tie and unbuttoned his shirt. Not wanting to run the risk of falling off the sofa and ruining the "moment", they moved from the sofa to the floor in front of the fire. Draco crawled on top of Harry, kissing down his neck and sliding his shirt off his chest, smirking over the few love bites he'd left the last time they'd gotten together. Harry moaned quietly and sat up to meet Draco in a passionate kiss. Their situation quickly heated up, leaving both of them topless, and Harry without his trousers.

"Are we ready for this?" Harry asked quietly, making Draco lose sense of what he was doing.

"What? Um, I think so..."

"I mean, I know I want to, but..."

Draco nodded and sat on Harry's legs, looking down at the Gryffindor analytically; "I know..."

Harry sat up and rest his hands on Draco's waist; "...I suppose we'll never find out if we never try."

Draco smirked; "you know it's all going to go wrong now, don't you."

"I know, I've jinxed it... Oh well..."

Without another word being said, Draco pounced on Harry, covering his neck and face with kisses and the occasional pinch with his teeth. However, he pinched too hard on his neck, making Harry yelp out in pain. Draco grimaced.

"Sorry."

Harry smiled meekly; "it's all right..."

Draco took in a deep breath and carried on where he'd left off. Harry closed his eyes and tried to get back into it; he liked letting Draco take control, even if it was a little worrying at times. As he made his way down Harry's chest to his stomach, Draco misjudged where to put his leg, and dug his knee into Harry's thigh, causing Harry to sit bolt upright, and throw Draco off him. Both of them groaned in pain.

"Sorry," Draco sighed, rubbing his elbow.

"It's fine," Harry replied, rubbing his leg. Draco sat next to the Gryffindor and smiled meekly.

"It's all going wrong. Maybe we should quit whilst we're ahead, before I accidentally castrate you or something."

Harry laughed and nodded; "yeah, maybe. Let's save this until a better time, maybe when we don't have to sneak around so much."

"So, never?"

The two of them laughed and leant into each other, sharing a quick kiss before grabbing their clothes.

"So this was fun, we should do it again some time."

Harry laughed; "no need to be sarcastic, Draco."

"I'm sorry. Next time you say nothing! I'm not having you jinx it every time we try to do something more than kiss."

"Aww, I knew you'd blame me."

"It was your fault!"

"Yeah, sure."

Draco nudged Harry as he tried to put his trousers on, making him fall over. Scowling, Harry grabbed Draco's leg and pulled him down on top of him. They rolled about, laughing and wrestling until Draco pinned Harry.

"Give up?"

"Never."

Smirking, Draco kissed along Harry's collar bone, instantly finding the spot that made him shiver.

"Give up now?"

The Gryffindor shook his head; "Nope."

Keeping his limbs pinned with his own, Draco began kissing down Harry's chest, softly grazing his teeth on his nipple.

"How about now?"

"No."

Harry was breathing heavily, but refused to give in. Draco shook his head.

"Stupid Gryffindors, so proud, will never admit defeat. Especially not to a Slytherin."

Harry smirked; "is that all you've got?"

Draco smirked too; "nope, but seeing as you want more, I'm going to stop. I'd rather leave you frustrated than fulfilled."

He climbed off the breathless Gryffindor underneath him and went back to getting dressed. Harry groaned and sat up.

"No, you can't do that!"

"Afraid I can, Potter. Now get dressed."

Sighing, Harry reluctantly continued getting dressed, glaring at Draco the entire time. The two of them gathered all their things and stood by the door awkwardly.

"Well, I say we get together next... Thursday," Draco said, pulling his bag onto his shoulder.

"Thursday?"

"Yup, though I might get a hold of your before Thursday. If you're lucky."

Harry sighed; "why must you toy with me?"

"That's what I like to do, I'll play with you, then have my way with you."

"Gee, thanks."

"I'm sorry, sort of."

Harry rolled his eyes; "well..."

Draco pulled Harry into a hug; "I like you, you know."

"Um, yeah?"

"No, I mean it... I really, like you."

Harry smiled; "I uh, like you too."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Really trying to subvert Drarry "stereotypes" here x) In the last chapter I make Hermione and Ron hate the idea of 'Drarry' (unlike nearly every story I read, where they actively encourage them to date) and here, they try to maybe have sex, and I make it all awkward and weird - like everyone's first time is! I'm bored of Drarry stories where they lose their virginity and it's the most amazing experience of their lives! It would be weird! They wouldn't know what to do... Anyway, currently writing the last chapter for this story, so expect the last few chapters to be up soon-ish (: - Comments appreciated, as always, though not so much on the Hermione hate - please don't hate her! D:<strong>


	11. The End

Finally it was the Christmas holidays; the majority of students went home, there were only a handful who stayed. Harry was dogged wherever he went by Ron and Hermione, only getting a moment alone when they had to attend to their duties, however they enlisted Ginny and Neville to keep an eye on him. They'd also confiscated his invisibility cloak and map. With his lack of freedom, Harry was beginning to go stir-crazy, realising how Sirius must feel at Grimauld Place. The only way he could communicate with Draco was by slipping letters in Crabbe and Goyles clothes when they bumped into each other. Draco would reply however he could without attracting Hermione and Ron's attention - hiding letters behind collumns outside the Gryffindor common room, sending an owl in the middle of the night when everyone else was asleep, etc.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were on their way to Hogsmeade for the last time that year before term restarted in January, to do some last minute Christmas shopping. Harry, however, wasn't in the mood for shopping, especially not for presents for his 'friends', Hermione in particular. He knew Ron had no choice in making his life a misery; but aside from stopping him doing anything, Hermione had resorted to other ways of getting him to admit of his affair with Draco.

"I know you're still seeing him Harry, I saw you!"

Harry scoffed; "saw what? I only see him as much as you two! I told you, we called it off!"

"You expect me to believe that?"

"Yes, actually. Being my friends you're supposed to believe me!"

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ron staring at the floor as they walked, wanting to keep out of yet another argument. Harry knew Ron wanted to believe him - and he felt awful for deceiving his friend - but was pressured by Hermione to accuse him until he came clean.

"I still can't even believe you don't see what's wrong with it!"

Harry turned his attention back to Hermione; "wrong with what?"

"Going out with Malfoy!" She seethed 'Malfoy', as if it was a dirty word; "if I was going out with him, you'd be on at me! Trying to get us to break up!"

"Only because he wants to go out with him," Ron chipped in. Hermione glared.

"Now is not the time for jokes, Ronald!"

Ron sighed and went back to looking at the floor, not saying a word.

"I can't be bothered with you right now, Hermione. Just, leave me alone."

Harry stormed off ahead, leaving Ron in the company of an even angrier Hermione.

"Can you believe him? How he seems to think everything's fine, I don't know!"

Ron sighed and shrugged; "maybe, if you lay off he'd come clean - if he is still seeing Malfoy, that is."

"So you're on his side? You believe him, don't you!"

"I just, don't see why he'd lie to us."

"Why?"

" Because..."

"...Well?"

"...I don't know. I just don't think he would."

Hermione sighed angrily and walked off ahead. Kicking the snow in front of him, Ron continued on to Hogsmeade alone, planning to spend all afternoon in the Three Broomsticks. As he meandered through the snow, he took a detour round the back streets of Hogsmeade just in case he ran into Hermione on the main street and she began shouting at him again. Ever since the outing of Harry she'd been really awful to be around, but he had no choice to put up with her.

"Should have gone home for Christmas," he mumbled, kicking a big pile of snow; "bloody Hermione and her bloody conspiracies."

Harry, meanwhile, was waiting in a secluded part of the village, on the edge of the forest, getting colder by the second. He didn't think he'd have been able to get away from Hermione, but for some reason she didn't follow him, at least, he hoped not. Eventually, he spotted Malfoy sneaking over to him, keeping a watch for anyone who might be following.

"Come on," Draco whispered, grabbing Harry's hand and running off into the forest. Harry laughed and tried to keep up. After they'd ran far enough away from the village as they though necessary, Draco grabbed Harry and forced him against a tree.

"I fucking hate your friends," he mumbled, pulling his gloves off and dropping them by his feet. Harry smirked.

"Yeah, I know..."

With his now free hands, Draco began undoing the buttons of Harry's coat, before unzipping his hoody slipping his hands under his t-shirt, making Harry squirm at the coldness of his hands.

"Hands, cold," Harry gasped. Draco smirked.

"I know, I'm sorry..."

The two forced their lips together, not caring if they'd get stuck due to the cold. Harry entangled both sets of fingers in Draco's white-blonde hair, still surprised that it was amazingly soft. Draco, meanwhile, ran his cold hands all over Harry's warm torso, pulling him closer and softly scraping his nails down his back. After all his built-up frustration was released, Harry pulled away for a deep breath. As usual, Draco went straight for kissing down Harry's neck, his now warm lips burning Harry's cold skin.

Ron was sat alone in the Three Broomsticks, making his Butterbeer last as he only had the money for one. He was actually quite happy to be alone; no Hermione to rant on at him about how she thought Harry was lying, and no Harry to argue with Hermione. It was nice and quiet in the pub, no one spoke above a murmer, the only loud noise was the door slamming shut. As he neared finishing his drink, the door slamming shut drew his attention to who'd just walked in.

"Oh, bloody hell..."

He slid down in his seet, grabbing a copy of the Daily Prophet and holding it in front of his face. Luckily, Hermione didn't see him. Before ordering a drink she went to the toilet, which was Ron's opportunity for escape. He grabbed his bag and coats and ran out of the pub, not even waiting to put his coat on; he'd rather deal with the cold than Hermione.

"Bloody freezing!" he cursed, quickly trying to pull his coat on, whilst walking and carrying his bag on his arm. He finally managed to get both coats and his bag on, and shuffled on ahead, through the village. He walked up the main street, towards the Shrieking Shack before turning back on himself, walking away from the village, towards the edge of the forest. Walking slowly, he weaved around oddly placed houses and clumps of trees, before taking a well-deserved rest on a large rock. The forest was silent, so Ron was confused when after ten or so minutes he began to hear voices.

"It's the cold, I'm going mad. They've driven me to madness!" Ron moaned, pulling himself off the rock. He began walking back towards the village when he spotted the source of the voices. Hiding behing some trees, he watched Harry emerge from from the forest, holding someone's hand. Malfoy appeared behind him. Ron clamped his hands to his mouth to stop him making any kind of noise. He watched as his best friend and enemy twirled each other about, grope at each other and kiss. He felt physically sick, but was rooted to the spot, terrified of letting his presence known by moving or vomiting. Eventually, the two parted and went their separate ways, Harry towards Hogwarts, Draco towards the Shrieking Shack. When both were out of sight, Ron ran as quick as he could to find Hermione. Nearly falling several times, he finally made it to the Three Broomsticks. He burst in and ran straight over to Hermione.

"You were right! Hermione, you were completely right!"

Hermione looked at him blankly, baffled by his sudden presence, heavy breathing and nonsense.

"...What?"

"Harry! And thingy! I saw them! They were coming out of the forest! And they were... You know! They're still seeing each other!"

After getting over the initial shock, she narrowed her eyes; "I knew it! Right Ron, this calls for drastic measures. If they won't break up voluntarily, we'll have to do it for them."

"...What?"

Hermione pulled her bag onto the table and pulled out some parchment and a quill.

"What are you doing?"

"Writing a letter, Ronald."

Ron sighed and sat down; "how very British of you."

Hermione managed a smile; "just you wait."

It was the day before Christmas Eve, Harry and Draco had managed to get a moment alone. They went up to the astronomy tower to be out of the way, where no one would find them.

"So what did you get me for Christmas?" Draco asked, resting his head in Harry's lap. Harry smirked and ran his fingers through Draco's hair.

"You'll have to wait and see."

"It'd better be good."

"No, it's awful you'll hate it."

Draco smirked; "good."

"What have you gotten me?"

"You'll see."

"Tease."

"I try."

They smirked at each other and leant towards each other for a kiss.

"How long do you think we have?"

Harry shrugged; "no idea, they weren't around when I got up, haven't seen them since..."

Draco nodded and sat up properly; "they've probably got some elaborate plan, we should make the most of the time we have..."

Harry smirked and grabbed Draco, pulling him into a deep kiss; Draco pushed himself on top of him, forcing the two of them down. They rolled about, kissing passionately and rubbing up against each other, only pulling away when there was a loud screech behind them. An owl was perched on the railing with a letter in it's beak.

"It's father's owl," Draco said, jumping at it. He tore the letter open and read it intently, before screwing it up. Harry put his hand on Draco's leg.

"What is it?"

"He knows... Someone's told him."

Harry took the letter from Draco and skimmed over it:

Draco I recently recieved an anonymous letter about you, and what you've been up to at Hogwarts. It's come to my attention that you've been soliciting in homosexual activities, with none other than Harry Potter. Now I hope this is just a vicious rumour, but I've been promised another letter Christmas Day if this "relationship" continues. I'd better not receive this letter or else you'll find yourself out of that school quicker than you can say hinkypuff, and you'd better hope I don't get a hold of you. You'll be in serious trouble!  
>Father<p>

Harry screwed up the letter; "I'm going to kill them..."

He pulled himself up, Draco looked up at him confoundedly.

"What?"

"Obviously it was Ron and Hermione, I can't believe they sunk so low..."

"Wait. Don't you think we should talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

Draco sighed and looked a the floor; "we should break up. Actually, break up. If they think for even a second that we're still seeing each other, they'll write to my father, and he'll... I don't even want to think about it."

Harry sighed too and knelt next to Draco; "I hate them so much."

They pulled each other into a tight hug, both shaking with a mixture of sadness and anger.

"I'll miss this," Harry sighed. Draco smiled meekly.

"Maybe in the future, when the war is over, if we're not dead, we could maybe, start again?"

"Maybe... I doubt it though."

Draco nodded; "and you wonder why I hate your friends."

Harry sighed; "I suppose we'll have to go our separate ways now... I'll see you around..."

"Come see me on Christmas at least, I want to know how you like your present."

"Ok."

They pulled each other into another tight hug, sharing a soft kiss, before leaving for their separate common rooms. When Harry got to Gryffindor common room, he stormed straight over to Hermione and Ron, not caring there were other people in the common room.

"How could you? What you did was just, evil! Well, I hope you're happy now!"

He threw the letter he still had a hold of at Hermione's feet and stormed off to the dorms. Hermione picked it up and read it before smirked.

"Looks like the plan worked."

Ron frowned; "Harry looks really... Upset."

"He'll get over it, come on."

She threw the letter on the fire and dragged Ron up to the boys dorms. Harry way lay face down on his bed, clutching the pillow over his head.

"Look, Harry, I know you're angry and upset right now, but you've got to understand, it was for your own good. It wouldn't have worked!"

Harry threw the pillow off his head and turned to face them; "you don't know that! You don't understand! We had something, we actually had a proper relationship! Just because he's who he is and I'm, well me, doesn't mean we can't be together!"

Ron sighed and sat on the edge of Harry's bed; "actually mate, the way I see it, we were saving you from heartbreak. You couldn't have snuck around forever, his father wouldn't have liked it one bit, and for all you know, and the way this war is going, he could, die! How would you deal with that!"

Hermione sat on the bed opposite Harry's; "I'll understand if you hate me, but, don't hate Ron, he had nothing to do with it."

Harry looked at Ron; "ok?"

Ron frowned; "but why Harry? Why lie to us? To me?"

"I felt really bad about that, but, we really like each other!"

"You'll get over it... You have to..."

Ron squeezed Harry's shoulder reassuringly.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: There will be one more chapter after this. It's not really the end. Also, sorry if Hermione seems a little crazy and OTT, she was meant to come across as "obsessive", like Harry is in the books...<strong>


	12. Epilogue

Harry woke up feeling oddly happy on Christmas morning, having been in a bad mood since his split with Draco. Pulling on his dressing gown, he ran downstairs with Ron, still as excited for his presents as a five-year-old. He was even somewhat happy to see Hermione. Everyone who'd stayed for Christmas sat around the tree, opening presents one by one. Ron was sat by the tree, handing out the presents; he picked one up and frowned at it.

"Harry, this is for you."

Harry took it and realised why Ron had frowned.

"Who's it from?" Neville asked. Harry shook his head.

"It doesn't say."

Quickly hiding the tag under his jumper, Harry tore the present open; it was a small jewellery box. He quickly glanced round at everyone, they were all staring at him intently.

"Well? What is it?" Neville asked. Nervously, Harry popped the box open, revealing a chain with a dragon pendant attached. He pulled it out and held it up to show everyone.

"A dragon necklace? Who'd send you that after last year?" Ginny asked. Harry suddenly remembered the dragon test in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. He shrugged and put it back in the box.

"I don't think anyone sent it to be malicious," Hermione said; "it's probably just, ill-thought-out."

Harry sighed, knowing Hermione was almost physically unable to defend Draco, even when she knew he was innocent. He pulled himself up, grabbing the presents he'd already received. Without explaining what he was doing, he went upstairs, dropped all but one present on his bed and went to the bathroom, locking the door behind him. He slumped against it and slid down to the floor, pulling the necklace out of the box. Draco's present confused him; he wasn't one to wear necklaces, and he didn't understand the significance of the dragon. The only thing he could figure out was the red gemstone it was curled around. He sat by himself until his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Harry, we're going to breakfast, are you coming?"

Harry sighed; "I'm not hungry, Hermione. You guys go ahead."

He could hear Hermione sigh on the other side of the door.

"...Let me in Harry, I want to speak to you."

Harry paused before unlocking the door, sitting on the edge of the bath. Cautiously, Hermione entered the bathroom.

"You can't avoid everyone forever Harry, and I'm not an idiot, you're not sneaking off to meet Draco."

"Since when was I-"

"-You dropped the lable, the one that says 'meet me on the bridge during breakfast'..."

"Oh... I wasn't actually going to go, I genuinely don't feel hungry."

Hermione sighed and sat next to Harry, taking the necklace from him; "are you going to wear it?"

"I don't know, I don't wear necklaces really, and, I don't get it."

Hermione sighed; "you don't?"

"You do?"

"What's Latin for dragon, Harry?"

Harry shrugged; "I don't know, should I?"

"Ok then, what's the school mantra?"

"...What's a mantra?"

"Motto."

"Never tickle a sleeping dragon, isn't it?"

"Can you remember what the Latin is?"

"Um... Draco, dormiens, something something."

Hermione smiled; "so..."

"Seriously Hermione, you're going to have to spell it out for me."

Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled Harry up, standing behind him; "the Latin for dragon is draco. Clearly Draco is being some soppy git and wants you to wear a reminder of him at all times. And clearly he knows more Latin than you."

Harry smiled, letting Hermione hook the necklace round his neck. She grabbed him and turned him to look at her.

"Look Harry. I understand you really liked Draco, and I know I probably could have handled it better or whatever, but I seriously hope you understand that everything I did, I had your best interests at heart."

Harry nodded; "I know, and you could have handled it better. What you did, was-"

"-I know, I sunk lower than him, but I felt it was necessary at the time."

"You put him in danger."

"It was only one letter, Harry. I'm sure Lucius just thinks it was a trick, and Malfoy will probably tell him it was... Let's just, put this behind us, Harry. Ron and I will always be here for you, Malfoy won't."

Harry sighed; "he would if he could..."

Hermione sighed too; "I'm really sorry, Harry."

Harry nodded and let her pull him into a hug. They joined the others and went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. As they got down to the Hall, Harry spotted Draco walking away; Hermione noticed him staring.

"Go see him, one last time," she sighed. Harry looked at her wide-eyed.

"Really?"

"Yeah, Ron and I will come along too though."

"...Better than nothing."

Harry hurried to catch up with Draco, Hermione grabbed Ron and dragged him after Harry, eliciting a lot of moans about missing breakfast. Harry finally caught up with Draco on the bridge, who ran to meet him in a hug.

"I didn't think you'd come."

"I wasn't going to, but I got permission."

Draco eyed Harry suspiciously before noticing Hermione and Ron waiting at the end of the bridge.

"Oh."

Harry smiled meekly; "so, how do you like your present?"

Draco smirked; "what am I going to do with a snake?"

Harry shrugged; "I thought you'd need a companion. It's no hassle, just give it a mouse every week, enjoy."

"Well, thanks. How'd you like yours? Are you wearing it?"

Harry nodded and and pulled it out from under his t-shirt; "took me a while to get it. Hermione had to explain."

"Well done, Potter."

"So yeah..."

Draco scuffed his shoes on the floor; "it was nice seeing you... It's probably best we avoid each other from now on."

Harry nodded; "well, goodbye then."

They both edged around each other before joining in a warm hug, Harry noticed Hermione forcing Ron to turn around. They pulled apart slightly and looked into each other's eyes. Draco leant forwards and kissed Harry softly, squeezing him affectionately, before pulling away. He smiled meekly and marched off up the bridge; Harry watched him leave, smiling when he heard him wish Ron and Hermione a happy Christmas. He walked over to his friends and sighed.

"Well, that's that then."

Hermione forced a smile and put her arm round Harry; "I'm really sorry."

Ron nodded; "yeah..."

* * *

><p>Avoiding each other became difficult as the two joined opposing sides during the war. Harry formed Dumbledores Army, Draco helped fight to destroy it. Draco was made a Death Eater in 6th year, Harry became the "chosen one". Harry couldn't sleep for days after he almost killed Draco in the bathroom. All throughout the war, the two of them came against each other multiple times, neither wanting to hurt each other, and both saved each other's lives at least once.<p>

* * *

><p>After the war was over, Harry stayed with Ron, Mrs Weasley refusing to let him live alone in Grimauld Place, until Hogwarts was ready for students to go back. The 7th years were given the chance to return and sit their final year, a chance which Hermione eagerly took, Ron was forced and Harry took as moral support for Ron.<p>

"It won't be the same," Ron sighed, forcing his bag into the overhead compartments. Hermione nodded.

"It'll be hard to concentrate after all that happened there."

"At least we're all together," Harry smiled, watching Ron pull Hermione into his arms. Neville, Luna and Ginny crammed into the compartment with them; to make space Hermione sat on Ron's knee. Harry looked round, smiling at all his best friends, until he saw a familiar head of blonde hair walk past the door. He jumped up, squeezing past Neville who was trying to foce his and Ginny's bags into the overhead compartment.

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked.

"Um, toilet."

Before anyone could say anything, he left the compartment and jogged up the train, looking in every compartment. He finally found who he was looking for, sat in a small compartment alone. Harry smiled meekly and snuck in.

"Draco?"

Malfoy looked up and smiled; "Harry!"

"Alone?"

"Yeah, Blaise isn't redoing the year, I don't really know anyone who is..."

Harry pulled the blinds on the door shut and sat down; "well, I am."

"Well... Good..."

They sat in an awkward silence, not knowing what to say to each other after three years of fighting.

"I suppose I'm not going to have many friends this year, what with everything that happened..."

"I've forgiven you."

Draco smiled; "Same... Even though you nearly killed me."

Harry grimaced; "yeah, sorry, I didn't mean to."

"...I heard my mum saved your life."

"Yeah, I told her you were ok and at the castle."

Draco nodded; "thanks to you! I'd have died in the Room of Requirement otherwise."

"I couldn't leave you there... You held on pretty tightly though."

A smirk spread across Draco's face; "old habits die hard, I suppose"

Harry smiled; the two of them silently slipped their hands into each others', squeezing gently.

"So... This is a new start for all of us."

Harry nodded; "are you trying to say something?"

Draco laughed; "maybe..."

Harry smirked; "you're never going to say it are you?"

Draco scowled; "shut up."

Before Harry could say anything in response, Draco forced his lips to his, pushing him up against the seat. Harry smirked and kissed him back just as hungrily. Draco pulled away slightly and smirked.

"And you said this wouldn't happen."

"You know, I was just going to say I missed you. I definitely don't miss your sarcasm."

Draco laughed; "you did really... Maybe this year your friends won't interfere."

"If they do I'll just drop out. Sod 'em. I don't defeat the Dark Lord and still get told who I can and can't date."

Draco laughed even harder; "you know what, I've definitely missed you."

Harry smiled and pulled Draco back into another kiss. The two of them rekindled their relationship for over an hour when Harry heard his name being called.

"Granger," Draco said, pushing his hair back out of his face. Harry nodded and stood by the door, pushing his ear against it.

"Should I?"

Draco shrugged; "your choice."

Harry took in a deep breath and pulled the door open enough for him to stick his head out. Hermione was stood by the compartment next to theirs, looking up the corridor.

"Hermione, here."

She spun round; "where have you been? Here the whole time? ...Is Malfoy in there?"

Harry shrugged and pushed the door open fully. Hermione cautiously stepped forward and peeked round the door, to see Malfoy lounging on the seats, smirking.

"Morning Granger."

"Malfoy... Well it didn't take you two very long, did it?"

Harry shrugged again; "well, we thought we'd try again, new start and everything..."

Hermione sighed; "nothing I can say will change you mind, will it?"

"...No."

"Right... Well I'm not telling Ron, you can."

Harry smiled; "ok."

Hermione shook her head and walked off, back down the corridor. Harry smirked and turned back to Draco, pushing the door shut.

"Well, that went well."

Draco laughed; "much better than last time."

Harry pushed Draco's legs off the seat and sat down; "so... Where were we...?"

Draco smirked and climbed on top of Harry, pinning him down; "not here, but I think it's a nice place to start off..."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: well, there you have it. Yay to me for actually finishing a story! Thanks to everyone who read, subscribed, reviewed, etc. Hope you enjoyed it! Enough threats and I may be persuaded to write a sequel.<strong>


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